UC Berkeley

Self-distancing has been linked to reductions in negative emotional experience (i.e., lower anger and sadness) as well as changes in appraisal processes (i.e., more reconstrual/less recounting; more challenge/less threat). We examined whether self-distancing also influences the self-concept, specifically its affective component (i.e., self-esteem). In a series of four experiments (total N = 2301), we investigated how distanced self-talk affects self-esteem relative to immersed self-talk, which involves using non-first versus first-person pronouns, respectively, in reference to the self during introspection. Study 1 employed implicit and explicit measures to test condition differences in self-esteem. Compared with immersed participants, those who distanced demonstrated higher implicit self-esteem but did not differ in explicit measures. Study 2 aimed to replicate the effects on implicit self-esteem and discern whether positive associations with the self were increased or maintained during Study 1. This study did not replicate Study 1, as implicit self-views did not differ by self-talk condition. Studies 3 and 4 addressed limitations in Study 1 that may have contributed to null explicit self-esteem findings, but did not provide evidence that distanced self-talk influences explicit self-views. Finally, a meta-analysis (Study 5) indicated that across all our studies, relative to immersed self-talk, those who distanced did not experience significant changes in self-esteem. Together, these findings indicate that although distanced self-talk may be an effective method for engaging more adaptive evaluations of emotional experiences, this emotion regulation strategy does not influence how one affectively evaluates the self.