There’s No Substitute for Belonging: Self-Affirmation Following Social and Nonsocial Threats

Abstract

Feelings of belonging are closely linked to feelings of self-esteem. This article examines whether these feelings are regulated in a similar manner. Research on self-esteem maintenance shows that self-enhancement strategies are interchangeable; self-esteem threats in one domain instigate indirect self-affirmations in unrelated domains that effectively replace needs to directly address the original threats. From this perspective, when self-esteem threats arise from a lack of belonging, indirect self-affirmations should again be both preferred and effective. However, belonging regulation may be distinct from self-esteem regulation. From this belonging maintenance perspective, indirect affirmations that enhance esteem, but do not directly repair belonging, may be relatively less preferred and effective following belonging threats. Supporting the belonging maintenance perspective, four studies demonstrated that whereas intelligence threats tended to elicit indirect self-affirmations, belonging threats elicited relatively more direct self-affirmations. Furthermore, whereas indirect affirmation strategies effectively repaired intelligence threats they did not effectively repair belonging threats.

Reducing defensive distancing: Self-affirmation and risk regulation in response to relationship threats

“…The results of the current study suggest that the self can be used as an affirmational resource for coping with relationship threats. Other research demonstrates that people respond to threats to belonging (e.g., social exclusion) by affirming social traits and values (Knowles, Lucas, Molden, Gardner, & Dean, 2010) and that selfaffirmation tasks elicit greater positive, other-directed emotion (Crocker, Niiya, & Mischkowski, 2008). Because close relationships are so central to people's lives, and threats to the self are so common within relationships, the intriguing connections between self and relationship processes provide fertile ground for future research.…”

Social exclusion, self-affirmation, and health information avoidance

“…Research suggests that self-affirmation serves to remind people of their personal and interpersonal resources (Sherman, 2013). People seek affirmations specific to social-connection (e.g., affirmations about friendship) when they feel isolated or rejected (Knowles, Lucas, Molden, Gardner, & Dean, 2009;Toma & Hancock, 2013). Some researchers argue that affirmation A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T…”

“…SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND AVOIDANCE 7 remedies (i.e., it prompts people to seek social connections and must be remedied with by social means; Knowles et al, 2009) and thus may be unresponsive affirmation experiences (Dingwall, 2011). Finally, affirmation itself may be an effective tonic for social rejection only for some people (e.g., people who are most resilient to stressors; Sloan, Wallace, & Dingwall, 2012).…”

“…As such, the two may have independent effects that uniquely contribute to the avoidance decision. Relatedly, research suggests that rejection is unique from other threats in that its remedies may need to be social (Knowles et al, 2009). As such, it is possible that only social affirmation (e.g., focusing on one's social identity or one's group's values and strengths; c.f., Crocker et al, 2008) can eliminate the effects of social exclusion on avoidance.…”

The origins of belonging: social motivation in infants and young children

“…The concept of the need to belong has been hugely influential within social psychology, motivating a great deal of theoretical and empirical research with adult participants (e.g. [27][28][29][30][31]), and has provided an interpretative framework through which to understand a great deal of social behaviour. In doing so, it has brought together a plethora of seemingly disparate findings within social psychology.…”