Die Schattenseiten eines positiven Selbstbildes: Selbstwert, Selbstkonzeptklarheit und Narzißmus als Prädiktoren für negative Emotionen und Aggression nach Selbstwertbedrohungen

Abstract

The dissertation investigated the relation between self-concept, negative emotions, and aggressive behavior. The theoretical assumptions were derived from a model proposed by Baumeister, Smart and Boden (1996) postulating a relation between inflated unstable self-esteem and aggression following ego-threat. 3 laboratory experiments and 1 questionnaire-based study were conducted. Within the studies, trait self-esteem, narcissism, and self-concept clarity were investigated as predictors, and explicit and implicit anger, verbal aggression, depression, aggressive driving behavior and traffic violations were the outcome variables. An ego-threat was operationalized by a bogus performance feedback on an intelligence test.
The results of the first experiment (N = 60) contradicted the theoretical model since individuals with low and not with high trait self-esteem revealed the most anger and aggression after failure.
In experiments 2 (N = 80) und 3 (N = 80) the measure for trait self-esteem was replaced by a narcissism scale as a possibly better measure for inflated self-esteem. Additionally, in order to measure the instability of self-esteem, a self-concept clarity scale was used. According to prior expectations, highly narcissistic individuals with low self-concept clarity showed the highest levels of anger and verbal aggression after failure. In contrast to that, individuals scoring low in narcissism and high in self-concept clarity reported the highest level of depression following failure. Trait aggression, state self-esteem and the personal importance of intellectual skills did not mediate the results. The expectations concerning attributions for success or failure were confirmed: Highly narcissistic individuals attributed failure to test difficulty and success to high abilities, while non-narcissistic individuals attributed failure to low abilities and success to high effort. Additionally, an internal attribution for failure was related to implicit anger and depression, and an external attribution for failure was related to explicit anger and aggression.
The questionnaire-based study (N = 73) was conducted to replicate the prior findings for angry and aggressive reactions outside the laboratory, namely for aggressive driving behavior. The theoretical assumptions were partially confirmed. The most anger and the most points in Flensburg were reported by highly narcissistic individuals with low self-concept clarity . Also, self-concept clarity was negatively related to feelings of superiority against other drivers and narcissism was positively related to traffic violations.
The theoretical model was therefore confirmed in most parts and could be completed by the findings about attributional processes.