Browsing by Author "Styers, Mary Koenig"

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    Maintaining a Positive Outlook: Developmental Differences in the Use of Subjective Temporal Distance
    (2007-11-06) Styers, Mary Koenig; Katherine Klein, Committee Member; Jason Osborne, Committee Member; Lynne Baker-Ward, Committee Chair
    Adults' use of subjective temporal distance, defined as a psychological distancing mechanism that allows individuals to maintain positive self-views by perceiving threatening events as being farther away in time and affirming events as being closer in time, has been the subject of extensive research attention in recent years. No research to date, however, has examined how children and adolescents utilize subjective temporal distance. This study investigated the extent to which older elementary and middle school students utilize subjective temporal distance as they remember positive and negative academic experiences. One hundred 4th⁄5th graders and 90 7th⁄8th graders provided ratings of their recollections and personal experiences concerning two academic events, receiving a satisfying and a disappointing grade or test score. The participants at both age levels reported that the positive event seemed closer in time than the disappointing event, an effect not explained by the reported actual time since the events. In contrast to expectations, no effects of grade or gender on subjective distance were observed. Further, contrary to prior investigations with adults, there was no relation between global self-worth and subjective distancing. Both the reported emotional intensity of the event and the amount of reported co-rumination with peers influenced subjective distancing. The findings are interpreted as indicating that subjective temporal distance in childhood reflects a different process than the internal, individual coping mechanism observed in adulthood. Further research should examine the role of interactions with adults and peers in children's use of subjective distancing.
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    Protecting my Self through Language: Developmental Differences in Narrative Accounts following a Self-threatening Experience
    (2009-11-02) Styers, Mary Koenig; Lynne Baker-Ward, Committee Chair; Thomas Hess, Committee Member; Shevaun Neupert, Committee Member; Jason Osborne, Committee Member
    Understanding how adults perceive and respond to threatening situations has been investigated by numerous social psychologists. However, these researchers have neglected to consider the development of these responses. One notable omission is how individuals at different ages use language to protect their sense of self in everyday negative situations. This study investigated cross-sectional differences in responses to everyday problems, conflicts and issues in salient domains of the self. Fifty-five older elementary students, 51 middle school students and 54 college participants each narrated accounts of two recent problematic experiences that differed in their overall importance to the self and provided ratings of their recollections and psychological responses to these experiences. Participants at all age levels reported that the narrated events differed in their overall importance, intensity and self-relevance according to their level of salience to the self. In addition, there were cross-sectional differences in the density of internal states language, and the relationship between language use and subsequent event sequelae varied by age group. For the elementary age group only, participants who used positive reappraisal in their narratives experienced a decrease in importance and participants who used a higher percentage of positive emotion terms sought less assistance following the experience and reported higher levels of cognitive avoidance. For the middle school age group only, usage of positive reappraisal was associated with higher levels of cognitive avoidance of the experience. Finally, for the college age group only, usage of positive reappraisal was associated with lower levels of cognitive avoidance. The findings are interpreted as indicating distinct patterns of responses to self-threat at different points in development. Further research should investigate language differences in developmental responses to self-threatening situations prospectively.