Thinking About Yourself
The vicious cycle of status insecurity
Maren Hoff, Adam Galinsky & Derek Rucker
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
The current research presents and tests a new model: The Vicious Cycle of Status Insecurity. We define status insecurity as doubting whether one is respected and admired by others. Status insecurity leads people to view status as a limited and zero-sum resource, where a boost in the status of one individual inherently decreases that of other individuals. As a result, the insecure become reluctant to share status in the form of highlighting the contributions of others. However, we suggest this reluctance to give others credit is often counterproductive. In contrast to the zero-sum beliefs of the insecure, we propose that giving credit to others boosts the status of both the sharer and the recipient, expanding the overall status pie. Because the insecure miss opportunities to gain status by not elevating others, they reinforce their initial insecurity. We provide evidence for this vicious cycle across 17 studies, including a content analysis of people’s personal experiences with status insecurity, an archival analysis of the final speeches held on the reality TV show Survivor (using ChatGPT), and more than a dozen experimental studies. To enhance generalizability and external validity, our experimental contexts include consulting pitches, venture capital competitions, and idea generation contests. To demonstrate discriminant validity, we differentiate status insecurity from self-esteem insecurity. Across the studies, status insecurity consistently decreased status sharing while status sharing reliably increased one’s status. Ultimately, status insecurity paradoxically lowers one’s status because it reduces the propensity to elevate and celebrate others.
Why Life Moves Fast: Exploring the Mechanisms Behind Autobiographical Time Perception
Young-Ju Ryu et al.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
We investigate why individuals commonly perceive time as passing quickly when reflecting on past periods of their lives. A traditional cognitive account proposes that routine experienced during a period decreases the number of memorable events, making that period appear short in retrospect. A motivational account derived from self-determination theory proposes that a period remembered as lacking self-determined growth feels unsatisfying or wasted, and thus seems to pass quickly. Two exploratory studies (N = 999) did not consistently support these accounts, although in Study 2 remembered routine predicted faster perceived pace, as hypothesized. Contrary to our motivational account, remembered growth positively, rather than negatively, predicted pace. Interpreting this unexpected finding, we conducted two pre-registered studies (N = 965) exploring how satisfaction with, and nostalgic longing for, periods of growth contribute to the perception of time passing quickly. Our findings have implications for encouraging productive responses to the subjective pace of life.
Values and stress: Examining the relations between values and general and domain-specific stress in two longitudinal studies
Jing Luo & Emily Willroth
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Stress experiences have been found to vary at both the interindividual and intraindividual levels. The present study investigated the concurrent and longitudinal associations between values and stress at both the between-person and the within-person levels. We considered multiple aspects of stress, including self-reported stressor exposure and perceived stress, as well as general and domain-specific stress. In Study 1, data were drawn from the Midlife in the United States (N = 3,905) to test the between-person concurrent and prospective relations between values, changes in values, and general and domain-specific perceived stress. In Study 2, data from the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (N = 13,940) were used to examine the associations between values and general and domain-specific self-reported stressor exposure and perceived stress at the between- and within-person levels. The results supported meaningful associations between values and individual differences in self-reported stressor exposure and perceived stress. In general, growth-oriented values consistently displayed negative relations to perceived stress, especially in the job domain. Social-focused values also showed negative associations with stress experiences. After controlling for between-person variance, temporal relations were also found between values and stress at the within-person level, with the pattern varying across types and domains of stress. Findings from the present study provide us with insights into the interindividual and intraindividual processes of values and stress.
Proinflammatory gene expression is associated with prospective risk for adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors over twelve months
Matthew Clayton et al.
Development and Psychopathology, forthcoming
Method: Participants were 211 adolescent females (ages 9-14 years; Mage = 11.8 years, SD = 1.8 years) at increased risk for STB [suicidal thoughts and behaviors]. This study examined the prospective association between basal levels of inflammatory gene expression (average of 15 proinflammatory mRNA transcripts) and subsequent risk for suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior over a 12-month follow-up period.
Results: Controlling for past levels of STB, greater proinflammatory gene expression was associated with prospective risk for STB in these youth. Similar effects were observed for CD14 mRNA level, a marker of monocyte abundance within the blood sample. Sensitivity analyses controlling for other relevant covariates, including history of trauma, depressive symptoms, and STB prior to data collection, yielded similar patterns of results.
Genetic and environmental contributions to adult attachment styles: Evidence from the Minnesota Twin Registry
Keely Dugan et al.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Attachment theory, as originally outlined by Bowlby (1973, 1980, 1969/1982), suggests that the ways people think, feel, and behave in close relationships are shaped by the dynamic interplay between their genes and their social environment. Research on adult attachment, however, has largely focused on the latter, providing only a partial picture of how attachment styles emerge and develop throughout life. The present research leveraged data from the Minnesota Twin Registry, a large sample of older adult twins (N = 1,377 twins; 678 pairs; Mage = 70.40 years, SD = 5.42), to examine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to adult attachment styles. Participants reported on both their general attachment styles and relationship-specific attachments to their mothers, fathers, partners, and best friends. The results suggest that attachment styles are partly heritable (∼36%) and partly attributable to environmental factors that are not shared between twins (∼64%). Heritability estimates were somewhat higher for parent-specific attachment styles (∼51%), whereas nonshared environmental factors accounted for larger proportions of the variance in partner- and best friend-specific attachment styles. Using multivariate biometric models, we also examined the genetic and environmental factors underlying the covariation among people’s relationship-specific attachment styles. The findings indicate that the similarities among people’s avoidant tendencies in different relationships can be explained by a single, higher order latent factor (e.g., global avoidance). In contrast, the genetic and environmental factors underlying attachment anxiety appear to be more differentiated across specific close relationships.