The DOI matches its Crossref record; 66 of the 66 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
More than words: Reframing compliments from romantic partners fosters security in low self-esteem individuals.
Abstract
Although people with low self-esteem (LSEs) doubt their value to their romantic partners, they tend to resist positive feedback from their partners. This resistance undermines their relationships and has been difficult to overcome in past research. The authors investigated whether LSEs could be induced to take their partners' kind words to heart by manipulating how abstractly they described a recent compliment. In 3 studies, LSEs felt more positively about the compliments, about themselves, and about their relationships--as positively as people with high self-esteem (HSEs) felt--when they were encouraged to describe the meaning and significance of the compliments. The effects of this abstract meaning manipulation were still evident 2 weeks later. Thus, when prompted, LSEs can reframe affirmations from their partners to be as meaningful as HSEs generally believe them to be and, consequently, can feel just as secure and satisfied with their romantic relationships.
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In the citing paper
“The intervention's effect on relationship security and quality persisted two weeks later.”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Marigold et al. 2007
In the citing paper
“At the end of two weeks, affirmed participants reported that their partners had acted more supportively and less critically toward them”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Marigold et al. 2007
In the citing paper
“Relative to various control conditions, including one that asked participants only to recall the compliment, the intervention led low-self-esteem participants to feel more secure both in their relationship and about themselves.”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Marigold et al. 2007
In the citing paper
“High-self-esteem people seem to do this more readily in romantic relationships and thus benefit less from affirmation (Marigold et al. 2007).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Marigold et al. 2007
In the citing paper
“For example, unlike LSEs who feel insecure after receiving a compliment, HSEs benefit from receiving compliments and social support as it validates and bolsters their positive self-views (Lee and Way, 2019; Marigold et al., 2007).”
From Social media use and systemic inflammation: The moderating role of self-esteem (2021) · cites this paper as Marigold et al., 2007
Citations
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Research works printed but not linked: 3
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- Peach, J., & MacDonald, T. K. (2004). When good news is bad: Adult romantic attachment styles and responses to positive feedback about one's relationship. Unpublished senior honors thesis, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
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Social-Psychological Interventions in Education: They’re Not Magic
Yeager, D. S., & Walton, G. M. (2011) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654311405999 · Cited by 1,345
The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention
Cohen, G. L., & Sherman, D. K. (2014) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115137 · Cited by 1,302
The new science of wise psychological interventions
Walton, G. M. (2014) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721413512856 · Cited by 655
Wise interventions: Psychological remedies for social and personal problems.
Walton, G. M., & Wilson, T. D. (2018) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/rev0000115 · Cited by 617
Metadata
- Authors
- Marigold, D. C., Holmes, J. G., & Ross, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Waterloo (CA)
- ORCID
- Marigold, Denise C.
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2007-02
- Volume
- 92
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 232-248
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2054611531
- Cited by
- 155
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 11.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- low self-esteem, romantic relationships, compliments, positive feedback, reframing, abstract meaning, relationship satisfaction, self-concept
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Courtship, Female, Happiness, Humans, Male, Ontario, Mental Recall, Regression Analysis, Reinforcement, Social, Self Concept, Social Perception, Time Factors
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