On the benefits of misery
Self-serving biases in the depressive self-concept
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6202728 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brett W Pelham (0000-0003-3185-2196, University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1991 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 670-681 |
| Publication date | 1991-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037//0022-3514.61.4.670 |
| PMID | 1960658 |
| OpenAlex | W2094408457 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 24 |
| References cited | 9 |
Two survey studies suggested that depressed people react to their acute distress by engaging in self-serving biases and striving to develop positive self-views. Study 1 revealed that whereas most of the specific self-views of depressed persons were relatively negative, their best (most favorable) self-views were just as favorable as the best self-views of nondepressed persons. Moreover, depressed participants reported that they were highly confident of their best self-views and considered these beliefs extremely important. Analyses equating depressed and nondepressed persons for global self-esteem provided even stronger evidence of self-serving biases among the depressed. Specifically, such analyses revealed that depressed persons' best self-views were even more positive than the best self-views of the nondepressed. A 2nd study replicated these effects and provided tentative evidence that downward comparison processes play a role in the development of depressed persons' positive self-views. The theoretical and therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.
Anxiety · Cognition · Depression (economics · Depressive symptoms · Developmental psychology · Distress · Equating · Mental health · Psychiatry · Psychological distress · Psychotherapist · Self · Self-concept · Self-disclosure · Self-enhancement · Self-esteem · Clinical Psychology · Mental Health Research Topics · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Social Psychology
Analogue versus clinical depression
Depression research methodologies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Target Article
Self-discrepancy and elaboration of self-conceptions as factors influencing reactions to feedback
Profile Membership of Self-Worth Contingencies Predicts Well-being, Virtues, and Values
Self-Evaluation
Self-esteem, construal, and comparisons with the self, friends, and peers
Asymmetry and Defense in Self-Comparison
The Life-Course Dynamics of Goal Pursuit and Goal Adjustment
Collective self‐esteem consequences of outgroup derogation when a valued social identity is on trial
The Self in Social Contexts
Serious Harm Reduction Strategies Indirectly Affects the Relationship between Explicit Drinking Identity and Hazardous Drinking in College Males
Underworked and Overpaid
Two Roads to Positive Regard
Self-Enhancement and Attitudes Toward High Achievers
Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory
A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
The nature of negative thoughts in depression
Self-complexity as a cognitive buffer against stress-related illness and depression
Depression, self-esteem, and the absence of self-protective attributional biases
On confidence and consequence
Prevalence of treated and untreated psychiatric disorders in three ethnic groups
| Unique citing works | 15 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,73 |
| Citation span | 1993 - 2024 (32) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 22 |