Effects of Self-affirmation on Self-esteem and Self-evaluation

Objective: To investigate how self-affirmation effects self-esteem and self-evaluation under different threatening conditions. Methods: Study 1 adopted one factor between-subjects design, 40 college students were randomly assigned into attribute affirmation and control condition, Study 2 added a new factor, social comparison, to investigate the effect of self-affirmation on the self-threat and self-evaluation under threaten social comparison, in which 100 college students(67 females) were recruited. Results: Participants in the attribute affirmation condition reported higher self-esteem than participants in the control condition, in other words, affirming one’s positive qualities increased immediate self-esteem(Study 1). In the upward comparison condition, attribute affirmed people suffered less self-threat and described lower self evaluation than noaffirmed people(Study 2). Conclusion: Self-Affirmation onpositive qualities promotes self-esteem.