Rader Lena, Forster Saskia Doreen, Gauggel Siegfried, Drueke Barbara, Mainz Verena
Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2025 Mar 14;16:1530008. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1530008. eCollection 2025.
When self-esteem is threatened (e.g., by social rejection), people regulate it through self-enhancement, self-protection, or self-affirmation. High self-esteem individuals use functional strategies like self-affirmation and self-enhancement, while those with low self-esteem rely more on self-protection strategies. This study explored whether decentering, a metacognitive process, aids in accessing resources and promoting functional self-esteem regulation.
1,100 participants (age 18-65, 72% female) completed questionnaires online. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether decentering mediates the association between self-esteem and self-enhancement, self-affirmation and self-protection.
Self-esteem positively predicted decentering, which promoted self-affirmation and self-enhancement. The decentering factor positively predicted self-protection, while the factor reduced it. Decentering significantly mediated all three strategies.
These findings suggest that enhancing decentering could improve self-esteem regulation and inform therapeutic interventions. Strengthening an accepting self-perception may help individuals with low self-esteem adopt protective strategies. Fostering a distanced perspective could further promote self-affirmation, leading to better mental health outcomes.
当自尊受到威胁时（例如，受到社会排斥），人们会通过自我提升、自我保护或自我肯定来调节自尊。高自尊个体采用自我肯定和自我提升等功能性策略，而低自尊个体则更多地依赖自我保护策略。本研究探讨了去中心化这一元认知过程是否有助于获取资源并促进功能性自尊调节。
1100名参与者（年龄在18 - 65岁之间，72%为女性）在线完成问卷。采用结构方程模型来检验去中心化是否介导自尊与自我提升、自我肯定和自我保护之间的关联。
自尊正向预测去中心化，而去中心化促进自我肯定和自我提升。去中心化因素正向预测自我保护，而因素则降低自我保护。去中心化显著介导了所有三种策略。
这些发现表明，增强去中心化可以改善自尊调节，并为治疗干预提供依据。强化接纳的自我认知可能有助于低自尊个体采用保护策略。培养一种超脱的视角可能进一步促进自我肯定，从而带来更好的心理健康结果。
