As human beings, we are by nature social creatures. Communicating with others, whether to gain information, feel emotional support, or simply to have another person to talk to about everyday life, is a crucial part of humanity’s very existence. Looking back on the evolution of mankind, staying with one’s group was a matter of life and death in harsh environments with dangerous predators, food shortages, and hostile weather, and without the ability to communicate and maintain a tribe mentality, the species surely would not have survived. After so many years of living this way, it would make sense that needing to be connected with other humans has become a part of mankind’s very nature. This then begs the question, if interpersonal attachment
…show more content…
negative feedback (1992). In order to accomplish this, they first asked participants to complete a short questionnaire (a version of the Texas Social Behavior Inventory) and then deliver a short speech, to which “raters” behind two-way mirrors gave them either written positive or negative feedback. The participants were then asked a few questions concerning the positive and negative feedback they received and asked which rater they preferred. Results showed that individuals with high self-concept perceived the positive rater as being more preferable, whereas those with a negative self-concept preferred the negative rater. Also, after the positive and negative feedback were read and analyzed by the participants, they all displayed higher levels of negative effect (anxiety, depression, and hostility) than they had previously displayed. However, despite this, subjects with low self-concept still preferred the rater that had critiqued them negatively. In a secondary, almost identical, study, the researchers found that participants would also prefer to meet with the rater who viewed the individual in the same way they view themselves. There were a couple exceptions to this with a few high and medium self-concept individuals, but the debriefing interview uncovered the fact that these participants wanted to meet with those who thought negatively of them because they wanted to change their minds (Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 1992). The implications of this study are that it reinforces what many social psychologists already know—that individuals with low self-esteem and by proxy low self-concept tend to continue perpetuating their distress by choosing abusive relationships. Since this relationship is clear and undeniable for the most part, the issue then becomes the directionality of
negative feedback (1992). In order to accomplish this, they first asked participants to complete a short questionnaire (a version of the Texas Social Behavior Inventory) and then deliver a short speech, to which “raters” behind two-way mirrors gave them either written positive or negative feedback. The participants were then asked a few questions concerning the positive and negative feedback they received and asked which rater they preferred. Results showed that individuals with high self-concept perceived the positive rater as being more preferable, whereas those with a negative self-concept preferred the negative rater. Also, after the positive and negative feedback were read and analyzed by the participants, they all displayed higher levels of negative effect (anxiety, depression, and hostility) than they had previously displayed. However, despite this, subjects with low self-concept still preferred the rater that had critiqued them negatively. In a secondary, almost identical, study, the researchers found that participants would also prefer to meet with the rater who viewed the individual in the same way they view themselves. There were a couple exceptions to this with a few high and medium self-concept individuals, but the debriefing interview uncovered the fact that these participants wanted to meet with those who thought negatively of them because they wanted to change their minds (Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 1992). The implications of this study are that it reinforces what many social psychologists already know—that individuals with low self-esteem and by proxy low self-concept tend to continue perpetuating their distress by choosing abusive relationships. Since this relationship is clear and undeniable for the most part, the issue then becomes the directionality of