Humans are unique in their ability to evaluate, judge, and criticize their thoughts and actions. Objective self- awareness theory (Duval &Wicklund, 1972;Silvia &Duval, 2001), a central theory in the study of self and identity, examines how focusing attention on the self affects self-evaluation. Self-focused attention leads to evaluating the self against standards and goals;if the self falls short, as it often does, then people may try harder to meet their goals or give up and withdraw. The proposed experiments examine the nature of self- evaluation and self-regulation, with an emphasis on how automatic, nonconscious self-evaluation processes affect how people mobilize and withdraw effort. These experiments will (1) examine-using physiological, cognitive, and self-report measures-how self-evaluation processes influence the exertion and withdrawal of effort during the pursuit of goals;(2) examine nonconscious processes that affect self-focused attention, the importance of goals, and expectations of success;(3) evaluate competing predictions about how self- focused attention influences the course of self-regulation;and (4) illustrate fundamental similarities between conscious and nonconscious self-evaluation processes. Taken together, the experiments will illuminate how self-focused attention influences defensive and constructive responses to goals, challenges, and negative events.
Chronic self-focused attention is a risk factor for many disorders, particularly mood and anxiety disorders, because it entails persistent scrutiny and judgment of the self (Ingram, 1990). These experiments will thus inform psychological disorders that involve self-criticism, particularly the automatic negative thoughts that occur in depression and the self-disparaging thoughts that occur in social phobia.
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