Scholer et al.(2014)

Scholer, A. A., Ozaki, Y. (尾崎由佳）, & E. T. Higgins (2014).
Inflating and deflating the self: Sustaining motivational concerns through self-evaluation.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 51, 60-73.
doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2013.11.008

The ways in which individuals think and feel about themselves play a significant role in guiding behavior across many domains in life. The current studies investigate how individuals may shift the positivity of self-evaluations in order to sustain their chronic or momentary motivational concerns. Specifically, we propose that more positive self-evaluations support eagerness that sustains promotion-focused concerns with advancement, whereas less positive self-evaluations support vigilance that sustains prevention-focused concerns with safety. The current studies provide evidence that self-evaluation inflation is associated with promotion concerns whereas self-evaluation deflation is associated with prevention concerns, whetherregulatory focus is situationally manipulated (Studies 1, 2b, and 3) or measured as a chronic individual difference (Study 2a). Following regulatory focus primes, individuals in a promotion focus showed relatively greater accessibility of positive versus negative self-knowledge compared to individuals in a prevention focus (Study 1). In an ongoing performance situation, participants in a promotion focus reported higher self-esteem than participants in a prevention focus (Studies 2a and 2b). Finally, individuals in a promotion focus persisted longer on an anagram task when given an opportunity to focus on their strengths versus weaknesses, which was not the case for individuals in a prevention focus (Study 3). Across studies, the predicted interactions were consistently obtained, although sometimes the effects were stronger for promotion or prevention motivation. We discuss implications for existing models of the motives underlying self-evaluation.

自分をどのくらいポジティブ／ネガティブに評価するか（自己評価の肯定性）は日々の生活で重要な役割を果たしている。本研究は、自己制御過程において特定の志向性を保ちつつ目標達成を目指すために、個人が自己評価の肯定性を戦略的に変動させることを検証した。すなわち、自己評価を高めることによって促進焦点的な志向性（前進と達成）を維持し、一方で自己評価を低めることで予防焦点的な志向性（警戒と安全）を維持することを、４つの研究によって示した。研究1, 2b, 3においては制御焦点を実験的に操作し、研究2aにおいては個人差を測定することによって、促進焦点的／予防焦点的志向性との関係性を検討した。