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R B Giesler

Publications and source records attributed to R B Giesler.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Self-verification in clinical depression: the desire for negative evaluation.

Do clinically depressed individuals seek favorable or unfavorable information about the self? Self-verification theory makes the counterintuitive prediction that depressed individuals solicit feedback that confirms their negative self-views. To test this prediction, participants were classified on the basis of a structured clinical interview and self-report measures into high-esteem, low self-esteem, and depressed groups. All participants were offered a choice between receiving favorable or unfavorable feedback; 82% of the depressed participants chose the unfavorable feedback, compared to 64% of the low self-esteem participants and 25% of the high self-esteem participants. Additional evidence indicated that depressed individuals also failed to exploit fully an opportunity to acquire favorable evaluations that were self-verifying. The authors discuss how seeking negative evaluations and failing to seek favorable evaluations may help maintain depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

When comparisons arise.

People acquire information about their abilities by comparison, and research suggests that people restrict such comparisons to those whom they consider sources of diagnostic information. We suggest that diagnosticity is often considered only after comparisons are made and that people do not fail to make nondiagnostic comparisons so much as they mentally undo them. In 2 studies, participants made nondiagnostic comparisons even when they knew they should not, and quickly unmade them when they were able. These results suggest that social comparisons may be relatively spontaneous, effortless, and unintentional reactions to the performances of others and that they may occur even when people consider such reactions logically inappropriate.

Affect↗
PubMed1992

Why people self-verify.

Why do people choose interaction partners who see them as they see themselves? Self-verification theorists propose that a desire to bolster perceptions of predictability and control underlies such activities. In contrast, advocates of positivity strivings argue that people choose such interaction partners in the hope of making themselves feel good. Two studies tested these competing explanations by examining the spontaneous verbalizations of participants as they chose interaction partners. The results suggested that positivity as well as self-verification strivings caused participants with positive self-views to choose partners who appraised them favorably. The epistemic considerations underlying self-verification processes, however, best explained why people with negative self-views chose partners who appraised them unfavorably.

Adult↗