SELECTIVE INTERACTION AS A STRATEGY FOR IDENTITY MAINTENANCE - AN AFFECT CONTROL MODEL

In this paper we answer the question: Do people select interaction partners to enhance their self-image, or do they strive to maintain a stable view of self? Affect control theory, a quantified version of symbolic interactionism, predicts that individuals adopt strategies which maintain their identities in order to secure a stable definition of the situation. When individuals have low self-esteem, they select interactions that maintain this low self-esteem, even when these interactions cause negative emotions. Two experiments examined the cognitive, affective, and behavioral effects of identity-confirming and -disconfirming information. Study 1, which assessed the cognitive and emotional outcomes of identity-relevant feedback, revealed that people with both high and low self-esteem feel good when praised and bad when they receive negative feedback on their performance. People with low self-esteem, however, think that the criticism is acurate, and like the critic more than do people with high self-esteem. Study 2 examined the implications of these responses for social interaction. Consistent with affect control predictions, subjects selected interaction partners who provided identity-consistent feedback. People with low self-esteem preferred to interact with a critic rather than with someone who said flattering things about their performance, even though the negative feedback made them feel bad. We discuss our results in terms of their implications for role stability and for the behavior of people with chronically negative self-identities.