Self-Affirmation Improves Problem-Solving under Stress
Open accessAbstract
High levels of acute and chronic stress are known to impair problem-solving and creativity on a broad range of tasks. Despite this evidence, we know little about protective factors for mitigating the deleterious effects of stress on problem-solving. Building on previous research showing that self-affirmation can buffer stress, we tested whether an experimental manipulation of self-affirmation improves problem-solving performance in chronically stressed participants. Eighty undergraduates indicated their perceived chronic stress over the previous month and were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or control condition. They then completed 30 difficult remote associate problem-solving items under time pressure in front of an evaluator. Results showed that self-affirmation improved problem-solving performance in underperforming chronically stressed individuals. This research suggests a novel means for boosting problem-solving under stress and may have important implications for understanding how self-affirmation boosts academic achievement in school settings.
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Less encumbered by psychological threat, self-affirmed people can better marshal their cognitive resources to meet the demands of the task at hand.
“Less encumbered by psychological threat, self-affirmed people can better marshal their cognitive resources to meet the demands of the task at hand, for example, solving more creative problems under pressure (Creswell et al. 2013) or exerting self-control in a depleting situation (Schmeichel & Vohs 2009).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Creswell et al. 2013
The Discussion reports that self-affirmation improved performance on a creativity-related problem-solving task under pressure, specifically among underperforming, chronically stressed participants. It proposes greater working-memory availability as a possible explanation to be tested in future research; it does not establish that participants marshaled cognitive resources better because they were less threatened. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBreathing retraining techniques (controlled diaphragmatic breathing) regulate autonomic arousal by stabilizing heart rate and respiration, reducing physiological hyperactivation and improving relaxation before sleep.
“Additionally, breathing retraining techniques, such as controlled diaphragmatic breathing, have been shown to regulate autonomic arousal by stabilizing heart rate and respiration, with RCT evidence supporting reductions in physiological hyperactivation and improved relaxation before sleep [113].”
From Pre-Sleep Anxiety: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Approaches in Clinical Practice. (2026) · cites this paper as [113]
The Methods (Procedure) and Results (Testing the Positive Affect and Task Engagement Accounts of Problem-Solving; page not provided) describe heart-rate measurements during a self-affirmation and problem-solving experiment, not a breathing intervention. Searches for diaphragmatic breathing, breathing retraining, respiration, and relaxation before sleep found no passage addressing the cited claim. (LLM, conf=0.77)
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- Authors
- Creswell, J. D., Dutcher, J. M., Klein, W. M. P., Harris, P. R., & Levine, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- National Cancer Institute (US)
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Creswell, J. David
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2013-05-01
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e62593
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3641050
- OpenAlex
- W2060291725
- Cited by
- 121
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6
- FWCI
- 7.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) (acceptedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- KiltHub Repository
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › Problem Solving Skills Development
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- self-affirmation, chronic stress, problem solving, time pressure, stress buffering, creativity, academic performance
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Blood Pressure, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Problem Solving, Self Concept, Stress, Psychological, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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