Defensive pride and consensus: strength in imaginary numbers.
Failure (Study 1) and attachment separation thoughts (Study 2) caused exaggerated consensus estimates for personal beliefs about unrelated social issues. This compensatory consensus effect was most pronounced among defensively proud individuals, that is, among those with the combination of high explicit and low implicit self-esteem (Study 1) and the combination of high attachment avoidance and low attachment anxiety (Study 2). In Study 3, another form of defensive pride, narcissism, was associated with exaggerated consensual worldview defense after a system-injustice threat. In Study 4, imagined consensus reduced subjective salience of proud individuals' troubling thoughts. Compensatory consensus is seen as a kind of defensive self-affirmation that defensively proud people turn to for insulation from distressing thoughts.
McGregor
Ian
I
Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada. ianmc@yorku.ca
Nail
Paul R
PR
Marigold
Denise C
DC
Kang
So-Jin
SJ
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis; D001290:Attitude; D003469:Culture; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009289:Narcissism; D009769:Object Attachment; D010551:Personality; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires