In this article we discuss the strategies that people may use to cope with situations that are risky in that they present the possibility for failure and potential threats to self-esteem. Previous research has indicated that anxiety (Sarason, 1980) and explicitly set low expectations (Sherman, Skov, Hervitz, & Stock, 1981) may lead to performance deficits in these situations. Experiment 1 indicates, in contrast, that with a strategy called defensive pessimism (Norem & Cantor, 1986), individuals may sometimes use low expectations to cope with their anxiety so that it does not become debilitating. A second experiment further supports the contention that low expectations may help individuals negotiate risky situations by showing that interference with the defensive-pessimism strategy impairs performance. Subjects whose strategic construction of the situation was not interfered with do not show impaired performance. These data are interpreted as evidence that the effects of low expectations and high anxiety on performance may be mediated by the strategies individuals use when approaching risky situations.

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In recent years, much progress has been made by those advocating the trait perspective in personality in explicating an underlying dispositional structure to individual differences, to the attributes individuals "have. "' A cognitive perspective on personality can complement this description, providing a view of what Allport called the "'doing" side of personality, by focusing on how these dispositions are cognitively expressed and maintained in social interaction. This perspective shows how individuals interpret life tasks of work, play, intimacy, power, and health, in light of their most accessible schemas, envisaging alternative future selves, and devising cognitive strategies to guide behavior in relevant situations. Strategic problem solving typically has its benefits and its costs because an effective solution to one life problem often creates other new problems. Therefore, a central question about the adaptiveness of personality is raised by this approach. To what extent, under what circumstances, andthrough what channels do individuals work to modify their schemas, tasks, and strategies in light of experience? A structural approach to personality can indicate much about basic stabilities, and an emphasis on the "doing" side can contribute knowledge of the mutability of personality.

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The concept of cognitive strategies is proposed as a model for the process by which individuals cushion themselves against threats to self-esteem in