Perceived Regard Explains Self- Esteem Differences in Expressivity

Baumeister,tice,and hutton proposed that individuals with low self-esteem (lses) adopt a more cautious,self-protective self-presentational style than individuals with high self-esteem (hses). the authors predicted that lses' self-protectiveness leads them to be less expressive-less revealing of their thoughts and feelings-with others than hses,and that this self-esteem difference is mediated by their perceptions of the interaction partner's regard for them. two correlational studies supported these predictions (studies 1 and 2). moreover,lses became more expressive when their perceived regard was experimentally heightened-when they imagined speaking to someone who was unconditionally accepting rather than judgmental (study 3) and when their perceptions of regard were increased through marigold,holmes,and ross's compliment-reframing task (study 4). these findings suggest that lses' expressiveness can be heightened through interventions that reduce their concerns about social acceptance. © 2012 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc.