Choosing to suffer as a consequence of expecting to suffer: Why do people do it?

Comer, Ronald; Laird, James D.

doi:10.1037/h0076785

Cited by 64 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Indeed, it is just this explanation that is offered for the results of a classic study that showed that participants who expected to undergo a noxious task-in this case, eating an earthworm-actually wanted to eat the worm even when they no longer had to (Comer and Laird 1975). The idea was that once one had chosen to be in the situation and had come to terms with it, perhaps by rationalizing that one's participation in the study helped advance science, people wanted to persist in their chosen course of action, even when it was unpleasant and they no longer had to (also see Festinger 1957).…”

Section: Persistence Of Hierarchymentioning

confidence: 93%

Building Organization Theory from First Principles: The Self-Enhancement Motive and Understanding Power and Influence

Pfeffer

Fong

2005

Organization Science

185

120

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I n developing and advancing organization theory, it is useful if we can uncover fundamental constructs that can then be used to integrate larger areas of inquiry, even as we continue to accumulate more knowledge, evidence, and concepts. However, accomplishing this will require a somewhat different approach to theory building and testing. We illustrate the process of building an integrated model from fundamental constructs by using the idea of self-enhancement to explore phenomena of power and influence. We argue that many psychological processes related to power and social influence (such as escalation of commitment, similarity attraction and in-group favoritism, the disinhibiting effects of power, and the persistence of hierarchical structures) can all be logically derived from the self-enhancement idea, the desire to see oneself and one's actions in a positive light. The conceptual model can help us understand apparently anomalous behavior (such as individuals being willing to tolerate poor treatment at the hands of leaders), bringing together a number of ideas and constructs frequently treated as distinct in the literature and providing some hypotheses for future research.

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Section: Persistence Of Hierarchymentioning

confidence: 93%

Building Organization Theory from First Principles: The Self-Enhancement Motive and Understanding Power and Influence

Pfeffer

Fong

2005

Organization Science

185

120

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“…When they experience an injustice that they do not think can be resolved in reality, they try to assimilate the experience to their BJW. This can be done by justifying the experienced injustice as being at least partly self-inflicted (e.g., Comer & Laird, 1975;Bulman & Wortman, 1977;Lupfer, Doan, & Houston, 1998), by playing down the unfairness (e.g., Lipkus & Siegler, 1993), and by avoiding self-focused rumination (Dalbert, 1997). This assimilation of injustice to one's BJW often helps to maintain subjective well-being (e.g., Hafer & Correy, 1999).…”

Section: Just World Reasoning At Schoolmentioning

confidence: 96%

The belief in a just world and distress at school

Dalbert

Stoeber

2005

Soc Psychol Educ

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This article investigates the relationship between the belief in a just world (BJW) and distress at school. On the basis of just world theory, the authors argue that strong student BJW should be associated with low school distress. Two questionnaire studies with German secondary school students attending grades 7-13 are reported. Both studies found strong BJW to be associated with less distress at school, better grades, and the evaluation of grades and teachers as more just. Moreover, the relationship between strong BJW and low school distress persisted when controlled for grades, justice of grades, and teacher justice. This relationship held for all students, independently of their school track, grade level, or gender. Overall, the pattern of results reveals school distress to have a unique association with BJW and school-specific justice cognitions.

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“…For instance, in a manner akin to derogating innocent victims, people may, at times, devalue themselves or their group to see their fate as just and fair (e.g., Comer & Laird, 1975;Janoff-Bulman, 1979;Jost & Burgess, 2000;Rubin & Peplau, 1973; see also Lerner, 1998), or self-enhance when fortune provides a fortuitous positive fate (Dion & Dion, 1987;Ellard & Bates, 1990). Rubin and Peplau (1973), for instance, demonstrated that participants who learned that they would be drafted to serve in Vietnam lowered their self-esteem relative to participants who learned that they would not be drafted.…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%