Do Autonomous Individuals Strive for Self-Positivity? Examining the Role of Autonomy in the Expression of Self-Enhancement

Abstract

In an effort to further understand factors that influence the expression of self-enhancement, two studies explored the association between autonomy motivation and self-enhancement motivation. We hypothesized that autonomy is positively associated with approach-oriented self-enhancement strategies and negatively associated with avoidance-oriented self-enhancement strategies, and that self-enhancement would mediate the association between autonomy and psychological well-being. In Study 1, participants completed a measure of self-enhancement strategies and a measure of autonomy. Autonomy was positively associated with approach-oriented-but negatively associated with avoidance-oriented-self-enhancement strategies. In Study 2, participants completed the same measures of autonomy and self-enhancement, plus measures of psychological well-being. In addition to replicating the findings of Study 1, the mediation analyses suggested that autonomy was positively associated with psychological well-being through approach-oriented selfenhancement, and negatively associated with psychological well-being through avoidance-oriented self-enhancement.

Cash or kudos: Addressing the effort-reward imbalance for academic employees.

“…This supports the findings of other studies that identified a relationship between autonomy, work motivation and wellbeing (e.g. Lynch & O'Mara, 2015;Olesen, Thomsen, & O'toole, 2015;Van Yperen, Wörtler, & De Jonge, 2016), with the organisational-intellectual tension perhaps explaining why, for academic workers, autonomy is important factor in their psychological wellbeing.…”

“…The findings also support the importance of autonomy to academic staff (Boyd et al, 2011; Egginton, 2010), whilst also identifying a tension in the autonomy that academics have in their role where they value the intellectual autonomy to teach a subject in a particular manner but feel restricted by a lack of organizational autonomy related particularly to the allocation of time, teaching facilities and administrative processes. This supports the findings of other studies that identified a relationship between autonomy, work motivation and well-being (Lynch & O’Mara, 2015; Olesen, Thomsen, & O’toole, 2015; Van Yperen, Wörtler, & de Jonge, 2016), with the organizational-intellectual tension perhaps explaining why, for academic workers, autonomy is important factor in their psychological well-being.…”

Examining the distinction between self-enhancement and self-protection in young adults: The roles of basic need satisfaction and psychological adjustment

“…Hence, they are likely to maintain the positivity of self-concept through self-enhancing strategies. Previous research has provided empirical support for the associations between defensive processes and both autonomy orientation and autonomy motivation that are related to need satisfaction (e.g., Hodgins et al, 2006;Knee & Zuckerman, 1996;Lynch & O'Mara, 2015). However, the current research provided a deeper insight into both self-enhancement and self-protection in connection with the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, which is an essential determinant of optimal human functioning.…”

“…Hence, these individuals tend to display less self-serving biases. Similarly, Lynch and O'Mara (2015) found that autonomy orientation is positively linked to approach-oriented self-enhancement. However, it is negatively related to avoidance-oriented self-enhancement (i.e., defensiveness).…”

A multi‐motive framework for predicting variability in self‐enhancement

“…For instance, people may self‐affirm by recalling important values (Aronson, Blanton, & Cooper, 1995; Steele & Liu, 1983) or instances of personal success (Hepper et al, 2010). In line with our framework, people who self‐enhance frequently report feeling autonomous (e.g., Lynch & O’Mara, 2015; Taylor, Lerner, Sherman, Sage, & McDowell, 2003), presumably because they choose self‐enhancement behaviors that maximize progress toward both positive self‐views and authenticity.…”