Self-affirmation: a regulatory fit analysis

Abstract

Self-affirmation, in which individuals reflect on important personal values or attributes and thereby reinforce their perceptions of self-worth and self-integrity, has been shown to reduce defensive behavior associated with a wide variety of threats to the self. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects are not well understood. The present studies derived hypotheses from Regulatory Fit Theory to investigate a potentially important but unstudied mechanism for explaining self-affirmation effects. Study One, which employed a two-condition between-participants design with self-affirmation (self-affirmed or non-affirmed) as the independent variable, was designed to test the hypothesis that a standard self-affirmation induction produces promotion focus. Results partially confirmed this hypothesis. Study Two, which employed a 3 (Self-Affirmation: promotion-affirmation vs. prevention-affirmation vs. standard affirmation) X 2 (Behavioral Strategy: eager vs. vigilant) between-participants analysis of covariance design, was designed to test the hypothesis that the effectiveness of self-affirmation for motivating health-related behavior can be influenced by the “fit” between the regulatory focus induced by the self-affirmation manipulation and the strategic means used to engage in the behavior. Results provided partial support for this hypothesis and confirmed that a standard self-affirmation induction produces promotion focus. Theoretical and applied implications of the findings are discussed.

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