Research has shown that desirable responding can be detrimental to social relationships, achievement and health. This study used an experimental design to (a) induce an increase in desirable responding through threat to self-image and then (b) compare the effectiveness of self-compassionate and self-affirming writing in attenuating that increase. Control groups included no threat exposure, threat exposure alone and threat exposure plus neutral writing. Desirable responding was measured along two dimensions: self-enhancement and exaggerated virtue. Results show the threat did not result in the predicted increase in desirable responding so the effectiveness of the two strategies with regards to attenuating increases in desirable responding could not be examined and compared. However, results do reveal a difference in the mechanism of these two strategies. Engaging in self-compassionate writing resulted in a significant decrease in exaggerated virtue whereas being self-affirmed resulted in a significant increase, suggesting a possible benefit of a self-compassion strategy.

The purpose of the present study was to analyze whether self-esteem stability moderated the association between self-esteem level and the forms of self-enhancement strategies. Previous research has found that self-esteem level can predict the forms of self-enhancement, whereas the advances in the conceptualization of self-esteem recommend that the self-esteem stability is another essential variable in terms of analyzing the relationship between self-esteem and self-enhancement. Depending on the relevant researches on use and gratification theory, which indicate that people use social media for self-enhancement and fulfilling their inner needs. This research focused on examining the forms of individual’s self-enhance on WeChat Circle of Friends (COF) and how it influenced by the interaction between self-esteem level and self-esteem stability by analyzing 305 participants in China. The results of the study show that both self-esteem level and stability was positively correlated with direct self-enhancement, but negatively correlated with indirect self-enhancement. Furthermore, the findings also show that self-esteem stability moderated the association between self-esteem level and direct self-enhancement such that individuals with stable high self-esteem reported higher levels of frequency in direct self-enhancement. However, the findings also revealed the self-esteem stability failed to moderate the association between self-esteem level and indirect self-enhancement presentation. These results suggest that self-esteem level and self-esteem stability will interact to impact the forms of self-enhancement. The importance of considering both stability and level of self-esteem in analyses of self-enhancement presentation on social media is discussed.

abstract: This research investigates the conditions under which people use consumption choices to signal accurate versus enhanced information about themselves to others. Across five studies, I demonstrate that activating a self-verification, as opposed to self-enhancement, motive leads consumers to choose products that signal accurate information about a self-view, even when this view is negative. I replicate this finding across several self-view domains, including physical attractiveness, power, and global self-esteem. However, I find that this effect is attenuated when consumers have a high fear of negative social evaluation. My findings suggest that this type of consumption, in which choice is driven by the desire to be seen accurately (vs. positively), can explain abundant real-world behavior; contradicting the notion that consumers choose products primarily for self-enhancement. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2016

No description available.

This study investigates the connection between self-enhancement and self-verification and confirmation and emotional support. The hypotheses predicted that there is a positive relationship between confirmation and self-enhancement and self-verification; people feel good about themselves when confirmed by friends, people feel that friends know them well when they are confirmed. The hypotheses also predicted that there would be a positive relationship between emotional support and self-enhancement and self-verification; people feel good when friends provide emotional support, and people feel that friends know them well when provided emotional support. A research question was also posed: Does family functioning have an effect on perceptions of self-enhancement and self-verification messages? To find the answers, a questionnaire was completed by 279 individuals. The results indicate two types of enhancement messages; a more specific and positive form of enhancement and more global (and negative) self perception of rejection. The findings are interesting and unique to self-enhancement in communication research which provides many avenues for continued research. Results also suggest that different elements of confirming communication influences perceptions of enhancement in different ways, emotional support predicts verification.

People’s self-perception biases often lead them to see themselves as better than the average person (a phenomenon known as self-enhancement). This bias varies across cultures, and variations are typically explained using cultural variables, such as individualism versus collectivism. We propose that socioeconomic differences among societies—specifically, relative levels of economic inequality—play an important but unrecognized role in how people evaluate themselves. Evidence for selfenhancement was found in 15 diverse nations, but the magnitude of the bias varied. Greater self-enhancement was found in societies with more income inequality, and income inequality predicted cross-cultural differences in self-enhancement better than did individualism/collectivism. These results indicate that macrosocial differences in the distribution of economic goods are linked to microsocial processes of perceiving the self. / Steve Loughnan is a postdoctoral research associate funded by the Leverhulme Trust (F/00236/W). Peter Kuppens is a postdoctoral research fellow with the Fund for Scientific Research-Flanders and is supported by Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Research Council Grants GOA/05/04 and OT/11/031. Anu Realo and Jüri Allik were supported by a grant from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Science (SF0180029s08). Junqi Shi was supported by a grant from the National Nature Foundation of China (NSFC:71021001). / Revisión por pares

Entrepreneurship is a major economic force and a salient personal behavior through which individuals achieve personal goals. A better understanding of entrepreneurial intention is crucial to fostering entrepreneurial behavior since intention precedes behavior. Considering the importance of the concepts of social and commercial entrepreneurs, the study examined whether social and commercial entrepreneurial intentions are motivated by a similar set of attitudes and personal values. It provided an answer to why and how an individual intends to become either a social or a commercial entrepreneur.To understand motivational similarities and differences between social and commercial entrepreneurial intention, the conceptual framework relying on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Basic Human Values Theory was proposed. In the developed model, the value set of entrepreneurial intentions is differentiated and categorized through Schwartz’s personal values and materialism. And perceived behavioral control and attitude towards entrepreneurship, two constructs capturing attitudinal differences, were used as two main explanatory variables with subjective norms (SN) as a moderator to represent its motivating power on attitudes, values, and intentions. Analyses of survey data collected from 1029 participants demonstrated a significant direct effect of attitude towards entrepreneurship, perceived behavioral control, self-enhancement values, and materialism on both entrepreneurial intentions. Self-transcendence affects social entrepreneurial intention significantly. Further, in the presence of positive subjective norms, a positive change in perceived behavioral control led to the development of both entrepreneurial intentions. And in the presence of openness to change values, a positive change in attitude toward commercial entrepreneurship motivated the development of commercial entrepreneurial intention. The remaining personal values negatively moderated the relationship between attitudinal components and entrepreneurial intentions. In the presence of materialism, a positive change in attitudinal components led to a negative intention to pursue entrepreneurship as a career. The corroborating evidence of the effect of materialism on social entrepreneurial intention development supported the underlying economic motive of social entrepreneurs. SPSS hierarchical regression technique tested proposed hypotheses using data collected from student subjects and the MTurk sample.

The world is facing an ecological crisis, and it is essential that we transition to a sustainable culture and sustainable behavior. At the same time, the gaming industry produces games that largely contradict these principles. We see this as problematic and therefore advocate for a paradigm shift towards sustainable values in television and video games. The study is inspired by the Common Cause Foundation’s perspective on Schwartz’s theory of basic human values as a framework for universal values and how they are correlated with sustainable and unsustainable behavior. We also draw on literature that describes and problematizes the current widespread paradigm in games as unsustainable, while presenting alternatives, known as “ecocriticism”. With the aim of exploring how games can incorporate sustainable values as a form of ecocriticism, we examine the game A Short Hike as an example – a game that, at first glance, appears sustainable. We do this with the research question: “Which elements in the game A Short Hike train the player in sustainable and unsustainable values, and in what ways?” To investigate this, qualitative interviews were conducted with a number of individuals after they played the game for approximately 40 minutes. The interviews were designed to identify the elements in the game that motivated them from a values perspective. The results of the study indicate that A Short Hike incorporates certain sustainable values but also includes some unsustainable ones. Generally, we observed that many common game elements specifically motivate players through unsustainable values. It also became clear that different players have different play styles, which affect their experience and the extent to which they embrace sustainable or unsustainable values as motivation. Finally, we discuss the results from a broader perspective, including questioning whether games, by definition, are unsustainable. We also provide suggestions for patterns on how games can be designed with sustainable values as a foundation. / Världen står inför en ekologisk kris och det är essentiellt att vi ställer om till en hållbar kultur och hållbart beteende. Samtidigt producerar spelindustrin spel som i stor utsträckning hur A Short Hike tränar värderingar Felix Wallin EECS, Skolan för Elektroteknik och Datavetenskap, KTH Stockholm, Sverige felwal@kth.se bygger på motsatsen. Vi ser detta som problematiskt, och förespråkar därför ett paradigmskifte mot hållbara värderingar inom tv- och datorspel. Studien inspireras av Common Cause Foundations syn på Schwartz theory of basic human values som ramverk för universella värderingar och hur dessa är korrelerade med hållbart respektive ohållbart beteende. Vi använder oss även av litteratur som beskriver och problematiserar det nuvarande utbredda paradigmet inom spel som ohållbart samt presenterar alternativ, så kallad ”ekokritik”. Med syfte att se hur spel kan använda sig av hållbara värderingar som en form av ekokritik undersöker vi som exempel spelet A Short Hike – ett spel som vid första anblick ser hållbart ut. Vi gör detta med frågeställningen: ”Vilka element i spelet A Short Hike tränar spelaren i hållbara respektive ohållbara värderingar och på vilka sätt?” För att undersöka detta utfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med ett antal personer efter att de fått spela spelet i cirka 40 minuter. Intervjuerna utformades med syfte att ta reda på vilka element i spelet som motiverade dem utifrån ett värderingsperspektiv. Studiens resultat pekar på att A Short Hike använder sig av vissa hållbara värderingar men även en del ohållbara. Generellt såg vi att många vanliga spelelement specifikt motiverar spelaren via ohållbara värderingar. Det blev även tydligt att olika spelare har olika spelstilar, och att detta påverkar upplevelsen och till vilken grad de tar till sig hållbara respektive ohållbara värderingar som motivation. Slutligen diskuterar vi resultatet utifrån ett större perspektiv, där vi bland annat frågar oss om spel per definition är ohållbara. Vi kommer även med förslag på mönster för hur spel kan designas med hållbara värderingar som grund.

No description available.

No description available.