From 'Me' the Scholar to 'Me' the Saint: Reducing the Negative Behavioral and Affective Consequences of Contingent Self-wort

The present studies support the assumption that when an important part of self-worth is threatened, priming a different part of self-worth reduces negative consequences associated with the threat. In particular, I test the hypothesis that shifting the weight, or temporary importance, from one contingency of self-worth (CSW) to a different contingency of self-worth will reduce self-handicapping and prevent lowered self-esteem and negative affect experienced when failure occurs in an important domain. Results across four studies partially support this hypothesis. Studies 1 and 2 limited the CSW domains to virtue and academic success. As predicted, priming a CSW that is inconsistent with the task domain (e.g., priming virtue after negative academic feedback), resulted in less self-handicapping relative to priming a CSW that is consistent with the task domain (e.g., priming academics after negative academic feedback). Similarly, for people whose self-worth is staked in academic success, an inconsistent prime/task procedure resulted in marginally higher self-esteem and less negative affect relative to a consistent prime/task procedure. Studies 3 and 4 extended the domain to athletics. Although significant differences were not found between consistent and inconsistent prime/task procedures with regard to self-esteem or negative affect (Study 4), overall sports domain importance interacted with prime/task consistency to predict self-handicapping in the hypothesized direction (Study 3). Finally, the proposed intervention was effective in increasing intrinsic motivation on athletic and academic tasks, suggesting that priming a CSW in a non-threatened domain may be effective in promoting a greater sense of autonomy and enjoyment in a threatened CSW domain.