Accepting threatening information: Self‐affirmation and the reduction of defensive biases
Abstract
Why do people resist evidence that challenges the validity of long–held beliefs? And why do they persist in maladaptive behavior even when persuasive information or personal experience recommends change? We argue that such defensive tendencies are driven, in large part, by a fundamental motivation to protect the perceived worth and integrity of the self. Studies of social–political debate, health–risk assessment, and responses to team victory or defeat have shown that people respond to information in a less defensive and more open–minded manner when their self–worth is buttressed by an affirmation of an alternative source of identity. Self–affirmed individuals are more likely to accept information that they would otherwise view as threatening, and subsequently to change their beliefs and even their behavior in a desirable fashion. Defensive biases have an adaptive function for maintaining self–worth, but maladaptive consequences for promoting change and reducing social conflict.
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Researchers have shown that individuals who are either personally affirmed or exposed to group-affirming stimuli thereafter display less bias when processing information that is contrary to beliefs dominantly held by their peers.
“Researchers have shown that individuals who are either personally affirmed or exposed to group-affirming stimuli thereafter display less bias when processing information that is contrary to beliefs dominantly held by their peers (Cohen, 2000;Sherman & Cohen, 2002;Cohen et al., in press).”
From Culture and Identity‐Protective Cognition: Explaining the White‐Male Effect in Risk Perception (2007) · cites this paper as Sherman & Cohen, 2002
Self-affirmation theory proposes a third alternative response to threats: affirming alternative self-resources unrelated to the provoking threat, which can enable both restoration of self-integrity and adaptive behavior change.
“Self-aYrmation theory proposes a third alternative, a diVerent kind of psychological adaptation-one that, under many circumstances, enables both the restoration of self-integrity and adaptive behavior change.”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Sherman & Cohen, 2002
Defensive adaptations can be reduced or even eliminated through the process of self-affirmation.
“One way that these defensive adaptations can be reduced, or even eliminated, is through the process of self-aYrmation (Aronson, Cohen, & Nail, 1999;Sherman & Cohen, 2002;Steele, 1988).”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Sherman & Cohen, 2002
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“Evidence suggests that self-affirmation reduces feelings of threat (Sherman & Cohen, 2002), increases the acceptance of personal health information (Sherman, Nelson, & Steele, 2000), and can promote healthy behaviors (Epton & Harris, 2008).”
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“…domain is less threatening when domains unrelated to the provoking threat are affirmed, and as a result, individuals react with fewer defensive biases (Aronson, Blanton, & Cooper, 1995; Aronson, Cohen, & Nail, 1999; Derks, van Laar, & Ellemers, 2009; Sherman & Cohen, 2002; 2006; Steele, 1988).”
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“And self-affirmation research has established that affirming cherished values mitigates defensiveness (e.g., Sherman & Cohen, 2002), consistent with terror management research.”
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“Study 2 Self-affirmation theory proposes that one of our primary social motivations is to achieve and maintain a sense of integrity and self-worth (Sherman & Cohen, 2006; Steele, 1988; Steele & Liu, 1983).”
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“whether the negative feedback was deserved and looking for ways to deflect their implications for the self to protect self-esteem.(51,52) When the recipient of such negative feedback is also stigmatized, another factor comes into play— perhaps it was deserved, perhaps not, and perhaps the rejection or negative evaluat…”
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“Finally, self-affirmation theorists might argue that our manipulation of acceptance in Study 2 was actually a subtle selfaffirmation manipulation (e.g., see Sherman & Cohen, 2002; Steele & Liu, 1983 ).”
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“One way is through defensive biases in how they process the threatening information (Sherman & Cohen 2002).”
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Conditioned Superstition: Desire for Control and Consumer Brand Preferences
Hamerman, E. J., & Johar, G. V. (2013) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/670762 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Cultural Cognition and Public Policy: The Case of Outpatient Commitment Laws
Han, D.-K. M., Braman, D., Monahan, J., Callahan, L., & Peters, E. (2010) · Law and Human Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10979-008-9174-4 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
“Individuals conform their factual perceptions to their values in part to avoid the psychic costs of believing that societal well-being depends on either restricting practices essential to their identities or promoting activities inimical to them (Sherman & Cohen, 2002; Kahan et al., 2007).”
BackgroundI use it but will Tell you that I Don't: Consumers’ Country-of-Origin Cue usage Denial
Herz, M. F., & Diamantopoulos, A. (2017) · Journal of International Marketing · doi:10.1509/jim.16.0051 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
“However, self-affirmation theory postulates that people’s self-systems can be flexible and that theremaybeother responses to threats, such as reinterpreting uncomfortable information or focusing on other positive aspects of the self (Sherman and Cohen 2002, 2006; Steele, Spencer, and Lynch, 1993).”
BackgroundMeasuring defensive responses to threatening messages: a meta-analysis of measures
Good, A., & Abraham, C. (2007) · Health Psychology Review · doi:10.1080/17437190802280889 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
“Rejection of the photoageing risk could represent defensiveness because failing to accept a threatening message ‘protects self-worth shielding people from the conclusion that their beliefs or actions were misguided’ (Sherman & Cohen, 2002, p. 119).”
Backgroundde Buisonjé, D. R., Ritter, S. M., de Bruin, S., ter Horst, J. M.-L., & Meeldijk, A. (2017) · Creativity Research Journal · doi:10.1080/10400419.2017.1303308 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
“…be accomplished by instructing participants to write about their personal core-values (see McQueen & Klein, 2006), a manipulation that has proven to be effective in creating openness to threat (Sherman & Cohen, 2002) and in reducing biased evaluations (Stone, Whitehead, Schmader, & Focella, 2011).”
BackgroundDerks, B., Scheepers, D. T., van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.08.016 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
“…also because previous research on the effects of self-affirmation (e.g., Cohen et al., 2006; Koole & Van Knippenberg, 2007; Martens et al., 2006; Sherman & Cohen, 2002) and group affirmation (Derks, Van Laar & Ellemers, 2006; 2009; Sherman et al., 2007) has convincingly demonstrated the…”
BackgroundResultTheories Related to Changing Clinician Practice
Riemer, M., Rosof-Williams, J., & Bickman, L. (2005) · Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.chc.2004.05.002 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
“To preserve their self-concept, people are more likely to seek out and accept feedback information that is aligned with their positive selfimage [43,44].”
BackgroundNaturally better? A review of the natural‐is‐better bias
Meier, B. P., Dillard, A. J., & Lappas, C. M. (2019) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12494 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
“…decisions such as the use of narratives or stories, or first-hand accounts of others’ experiences (Dillard, Fagerlin, Dal Cin, Zikmund-Fisher, & Ubel, 2010), self-affirmation manipulations (Sherman & Cohen, 2002), or increasing risk perceptions (Brewer et al., 2007) may also be effective.”
BackgroundGoldberg, T. (2013) · Theory & Research in Social Education · doi:10.1080/00933104.2012.757265 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
“Under certain emotional conditions, especially when one’s esteem is affirmed, even threatening information can be accepted and used (Sherman & Cohen, 2002).”
BackgroundGender Identity Salience and Perceived Vulnerability to Breast Cancer
Puntoni, S., Sweldens, S., & Tavassoli, N. T. (2008) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1509/jmkr.48.3.413 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
“It has been shown that defensive processing of threatening health messages is eliminated when people are self-affirmed in unrelated ways—for example, by thinking about values important to them (e.g., Klein and Harris 2009; Reed and Aspinwall 1998; Sherman and Cohen 2002).”
BackgroundSelf-Esteem and Favoritism Toward Novel In-Groups: The Self as an Evaluative Base.
Gramzow, R. H., & Gaertner, L. (2005) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.5.801 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Acknowledging the Skeletons in Our Closet
Gunn, G. R., & Wilson, A. E. (2011) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167211413607 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
“Consequently, just as self-affirmation enables people to be more open-minded toward their personal failures (Sherman & Cohen, 2002), group affirmation may have allowed participants to reflect on their ingroup’s wrongdoing without justifying or dismissing the harm inflicted, thus freeing them to…”
BackgroundCognitive dissonance, ego-involvement, and motivated reasoning
Carpenter, C. J. (2019) · Annals of the International Communication Association · doi:10.1080/23808985.2018.1564881 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
“Sherman and Cohen (2002) reviewed studies indicating that self-affirmation may be a particularly effective way to reduce egodefensive responses to counterattitudinal information.”
BackgroundReducing the stigma associated with seeking psychotherapy through self-affirmation.
Lannin, D. G., Guyll, M., Vogel, D. L., & Madon, S. (2013) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0033789 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Self-affirmation can enable goal disengagement.
Vohs, K. D., Park, J. K., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2013) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0030478 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
“…problems that might befall them, people who have affirmed the self show reduced defensiveness and vow to make positive behavioral changes more than nonaffirmed persons do (Harris et al., 2007; Harris & Napper, 2005; Reed & Aspinwall, 1998; Sherman & Cohen, 2002; Sherman, Nelson, & Steele, 2000).”
System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology.
Day, M. V., Kay, A. C., Holmes, J. G., & Napier, J. L. (2011) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0023197 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
“…or thirstier, and threatening one's self or group identity has been shown to engage self or group protective motives (e.g., Fein & Spencer, 1997; Sherman & Cohen, 2002; Steele & Liu, 1983), threatening the sociopolitical system through broad challenges to system legitimacy has been shown to…”
BackgroundHow believing in affirmative action quotas protects White men’s self-esteem
Unzueta, M. M., Lowery, B. S., & Knowles, E. D. (2007) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2007.05.001 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
CHAPTER 7 A Contextual Analysis of the System Justification Motive and Its Societal Consequences
Kay, A. C., & Zanna, M. P. (2009) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320916.003.007 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Self-Affirmation Theory and the Science of Well-Being
Howell, A. J. (2017) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-016-9713-5 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
“According to Steele (1988), a threat to self-integrity lies at the heart of self-affirmation effects, by serving as the motivation to secure a self-view as adequate.”
BackgroundPsychological and neural contributions to appetite self‐regulation
Stoeckel, L. E., Birch, L. L., Heatherton, T. F., Mann, T. L., Hunter, C. M., Czajkowski, S. M., Onken, L. S., Berger, P. K., & Savage, C. R. (2017) · Obesity · doi:10.1002/oby.21789 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
“Indeed, interventions in which people affirm their positive values have been shown to reduce defensiveness and lead to healthier behavioral intentions (62); (103).”
BackgroundHealey, M. P., & Hodgkinson, G. P. (2017) · California Management Review · doi:10.1177/0008125617712258 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Influence of Self-Affirmation on Responses to Gain- Versus Loss-Framed Antismoking Messages
Zhao, X., & Nan, X. (2010) · Human Communication Research · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2010.01385.x · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Cramwinckel, F. M., van Dijk, E., Scheepers, D. T., & van den Bos, K. (2013) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2013.07.009 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Restoration processes after need thwarting: When autonomy depends on competence
Radel, R., Pelletier, L. G., & Sarrazin, P. G. (2012) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/s11031-012-9308-3 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
“another activity that makes salient important values unconnected to the threatening event (Sherman and Cohen 2002), and research on mental contrasting that posits that when people realize that there is a discrepancy between”
BackgroundCan high quality listening predict lower speakers' prejudiced attitudes?
Itzchakov, G., Weinstein, N., Legate, N., & Amar, M. (2020) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104022 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Goldberg, T., Schwarz, B. B., & Porat, D. A. (2011) · Cognition and Instruction · doi:10.1080/07370008.2011.556832 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
“It has been shown that accounts of the history of the social group to which an individual belongs evoke shame or pride even when the respondents cannot be held in any way accountable for recounted events ( Doosje, Branscombe, Spears, & Manstead, 1998 ; Sherman & Cohen, 2002 ).”
BackgroundThomaes, S., Bushman, B. J., de Castro, B. O., & Reijntjes, A. (2012) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025677 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Gratitude facilitates healthy eating behavior in adolescents and young adults
Fritz, M. M., Armenta, C. N., Walsh, L. C., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2018) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2018.08.011 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Oswald, S., Lewiński, M., Greco, S., & Villata, S. (2022) · Argumentation library · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-91017-4 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Halpern, D. M., Katz, J. E., & Carril, C. (2016) · Telematics and Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.tele.2016.04.014 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Grootel, S. V., van Laar, C., Meeussen, L., Schmader, T., & Sczesny, S. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01344 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
“In this sense, valuing both agentic and communal traits serves as an affirmation of that identity at the same time that it broadens the identity (Sherman and Cohen, 2002; Derks et al., 2009; Glasford et al., 2009; Spencer-Rodgers et al., 2016).”
BackgroundDerks, B., van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2006) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.375 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
“Moreover, Sherman and Cohen (2002) showed that an opportunity to self-affirm reduces defensive responses to failure, hereby increasing the opportunity for individuals to improve performance.”
BackgroundPreserving Integrity in the Face of Performance Threat
Legault, L., Al‐Khindi, T., & Inzlicht, M. (2012) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612448483 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“Many responses to threats to selfintegrity involve defensive psychological alterations aimed at denying, rejecting, or transforming the threat in order to restore self-worth (D. K. Sherman & Cohen, 2002; D. K. Sherman & Hartson, 2011).”
BackgroundService recovery for moderate and high involvement services
Bambauer-Sachse, S., & Rabeson, L. E. (2015) · Journal of Services Marketing · doi:10.1108/jsm-05-2014-0155 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sherman, D. K., & Cohen, G. L.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Yale University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sherman, David K.
- Cohen, Geoffrey L.
- Venue
- Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2002-08
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 119-123
- ISSN
- 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8721
- OpenAlex
- W2146463557
- Semantic Scholar
- efa426cefbedeb6a8d58ba3c27f93d8e20c2bf01
- Cited by
- 435
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 35.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Keywords
- self-affirmation, belief revision, self-worth, identity affirmation, persuasion, health risk assessment, social conflict, openness to experience, behavior change
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