OBJECTIVES: Previous research investigating the interpersonal environments of dependent and self-critical individuals has focused primarily on attachment issues, such as relationship satisfaction. DESIGN: In the present study, we examined how dependent and self-critical individuals respond to experimentally manipulated events that threaten or bolster self-worth and status. METHOD:Forty pairs of female college students were allowed to believe, first, that they outperformed a close friend or were outperformed by a close friend on 14 trials of a behaviour detection task and, second, that friends generally agreed or disagreed with them on a second 14 trials, in which participants informed friends who had the better response. RESULTS: Dependent women were more concerned with maintaining interpersonal relatedness, whereas self-critical women were more concerned with preserving self-worth and status. Dependent women adopted the responses of friends they outperformed, praised friends even when friends disagreed, and minimized disagreement with disagreeing friends. In contrast, self-critical individuals contested threats to status and self-worth, withheld praise from friends who challenged them, and did not minimize disagreement with disagreeing friends. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the utility of an interactional framework in which depressive personality styles, such as dependency and self-criticism, and situational events interact to regulate interpersonal behaviour.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVES: Previous research investigating the interpersonal environments of dependent and self-critical individuals has focused primarily on attachment issues, such as relationship satisfaction. DESIGN: In the present study, we examined how dependent and self-critical individuals respond to experimentally manipulated events that threaten or bolster self-worth and status. METHOD: Forty pairs of female college students were allowed to believe, first, that they outperformed a close friend or were outperformed by a close friend on 14 trials of a behaviour detection task and, second, that friends generally agreed or disagreed with them on a second 14 trials, in which participants informed friends who had the better response. RESULTS: Dependent women were more concerned with maintaining interpersonal relatedness, whereas self-critical women were more concerned with preserving self-worth and status. Dependent women adopted the responses of friends they outperformed, praised friends even when friends disagreed, and minimized disagreement with disagreeing friends. In contrast, self-critical individuals contested threats to status and self-worth, withheld praise from friends who challenged them, and did not minimize disagreement with disagreeing friends. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the utility of an interactional framework in which depressive personality styles, such as dependency and self-criticism, and situational events interact to regulate interpersonal behaviour.
Authors: Claire J Starrs; John R Z Abela; David C Zuroff; Rhonda Amsel; Josephine H Shih; Shuqiao Yao; Xiong Zhao Zhu; Wei Hong Journal: J Abnorm Child Psychol Date: 2017-08