Institute of Personality and Social Research, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-5050, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2010 Nov;36(11):1439-53. doi: 10.1177/0146167210384881. Epub 2010 Oct 14.
Research suggests that not all affirmations of self-worth are created equal-affirming intrinsic aspects of the self (i.e., a person's stable, intrinsic qualities) leads to better outcomes for the individual compared to affirming extrinsic aspects (i.e., a person's deeds and accomplishments). Extending this research to the domain of romantic relationships, the current research compared the relational benefits of recalling intrinsic versus extrinsic affirmations from a romantic partner among people high versus low in baseline relationship satisfaction. Across three experiments, as predicted, people low but not high in baseline satisfaction reported higher relationship quality and more pro-relationship responses after recalling a time of intrinsic compared to extrinsic affirmation from a romantic partner. Together, these experiments suggest that affirmations from relationship partners may be important for enhancing relationships, but only if they emphasize intrinsic qualities of the self.
研究表明，并非所有自我价值的肯定都是平等的——肯定自我的内在方面（即一个人的稳定、内在品质）会给个人带来更好的结果，而肯定外在方面（即一个人的行为和成就）则不然。将这一研究扩展到浪漫关系领域，本研究比较了在基线关系满意度高和低的人群中，回忆来自伴侣的内在和外在肯定对关系的好处。在三个实验中，正如预测的那样，在基线满意度较低但不高的人群中，与回忆来自伴侣的外在肯定相比，回忆来自伴侣的内在肯定会让人报告更高的关系质量和更多的亲关系反应。总的来说，这些实验表明，来自伴侣的肯定对增强关系很重要，但前提是它们强调自我的内在品质。
