This paper studied whether threats to self-esteem and goal orientation affected an individual?s propensity to ask for help. Eighty-two undergraduate students from the University of Waterloo completed a self-esteem and goal orientation questionnaire in addition to completing two tests. One test was designed to be more self-relevant than the other, making that test more potentially threatening to an individual?s self-esteem. In each test, subjects were given the opportunity to ask for help on each question. The results show that the use of social comparison motivates individuals to engage in self-protection by reducing their willingness to ask for help. In situations where many others had asked for help, help seeking behavior increased. These results extend other research in showing the impact of social comparison on individual behaviour.

This paper studied whether threats to self-esteem and goal orientation affected an individual?s propensity to ask for help. Eighty-two undergraduate students from the University of Waterloo completed a self-esteem and goal orientation questionnaire in addition to completing two tests. One test was designed to be more self-relevant than the other, making that test more potentially threatening to an individual?s self-esteem. In each test, subjects were given the opportunity to ask for help on each question. The results show that the use of social comparison motivates individuals to engage in self-protection by reducing their willingness to ask for help. In situations where many others had asked for help, help seeking behavior increased. These results extend other research in showing the impact of social comparison on individual behaviour.

Previous research on Temporal Self-Appraisal Theory demonstrated that people make downward comparisons to their past selves. Researchers have discussed this tendency to denigrate past selves as a self-esteem maintenance strategy; however, little research has been done on how people recall their past selves following active threats to their self-esteem. Reconstruing one’s past self for self-enhancement may lead to changes in construal level. I conducted three studies in which participants were randomly assigned to either an intelligence self-esteem threat or control condition and then tasked to recall an autobiographical memory, rate attributes of their recalled past self, and complete a measure of construal level. In the pilot study (N = 113), participants were free to recall any memory of their choosing. In Studies 1 and 2, participants recalled and rated two memories from early high-school: pre- and post-threat manipulation. Participants in Study 1 (N = 240) recalled their academic experience, while participants in Study 2 (N = 243) recalled their interpersonal relationships. A pattern emerged across studies suggesting that when people recall autobiographical memories related to the domain in which their self-esteem has been threatened (an academic memory and intelligence threat), threatened participants are more likely to denigrate their past selves (lower endorsement of positive self-attributes post-manipulation than pre-test) than controls in threat-relevant traits (competence, knowledge). This pattern is accompanied by an increased likelihood to recall positive transformations and periods of growth, as opposed to stability. However, a relationship with construal level was not observed. Further, when people recall autobiographical memories unrelated to the domain in which their self-esteem has been threatened (an interpersonal memory and intelligence threat), threatened participants are more likely to idealize their past selves (higher endorsement of positive self-attributes post-manipulation than pre-test) than controls in threat-irrelevant traits (likeable, attractive). However, this pattern was only observed for those who demonstrated fixed mindsets, emphasizing stability, and was not associated with an impact on construal level. / Psychology