Content

Projects at the Research Lab

Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity

Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity (Appearance-RS) reflects a personality processing system characterized by anxious concerns and expectations about being rejected based on one’s physical attractiveness (Park, 2007). People differ in their sensitivity to rejection based on appearance with unique consequences for mental and physical health, affect, and feelings of belonging. Specifically, Appearance-RS predicts increased symptoms of eating disorders and the tendency to make appearance-based comparisons with others. People high in Appearance-RS who are reminded of a negative aspect of their appearance report feeling more lonely and rejected than those low in Appearance-RS. These effects, however, can be attenuated by having people self-affirm (think about their greatest strength) or be reminded of a close, caring relationship partner.

Recent research in our lab has examined the effects of being rejected based on appearance on subsequent motivational orientation and behavioral coping strategies, both in the lab and in everyday life (Park & Pinkus, under review). We have examined sociocultural factors that may contribute to Appearance-RS, such as parental, peer, and media influence (Park,DiRaddo & Calogero, 2009), and established links between Appearance-RS, body dysmorphic disorder, and motivations for pursuing cosmetic surgery (Park, Calogero, Harwin & DiRaddo, under review; Park, Calogero, Young, Harwin & DiRaddo, in prep).

Appearance-RS Scale (15 scenario version)

Short Appearance-RS Scale (10 scenario version)

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Contingencies of Self-worth and Self-threats

Contingencies of self-worth represent specific domains on which people base their self-esteem (Crocker & Wolfe, 2001). Research has shown that the pursuit of self-esteem in domains on which people stake their self-worth have important consequences for self-evaluations, motivation, interpersonal processes, and mental and physical health (Crocker & Park, 2003; Crocker, Lee, & Park, 2004; Crocker & Park, 2004a, 2004b; Park, Crocker, & Mickelson, 2004; Park & Crocker, 2004; Park, Crocker, & Vohs, 2006). Research in our lab has examined how threats to domains of contingent self-worth affect people’s motivations and interpersonal outcomes as a function of having high self-esteem (HSE) vs. low self-esteem (LSE).

A recurring finding is that people with LSE vs. HSE adopt different motivational orientations following threats to domains of contingent self-worth. For example, HSE participants who strongly based self-worth on competence and received a threat to this domain became less supportive toward another person’s personal problem and were less liked as a result. LSE, academically contingent people tended to show the reverse, becoming more supportive and likeable toward others following an academic threat (Park & Crocker, 2004).

In a related line of work, LSE, academically contingent participants who experienced failure reported lower state self-esteem, less positive affect, and showed disengagement from the goal of wanting to appear competent to others. Indeed, LSE, academically contingent participants were quicker to associate themselves with failure on an implicit, automatic level than did HSE participants, or those whose self-worth was less contingent on academic competence. HSE, academically contingent participants were not as negatively affected by failure as LSE participants; instead, they sought to validate their competence to others, regardless of failure (Park, Crocker, & Kiefer, 2007). These findings suggest that HSE and LSE people processed academic failure in different ways, with the key distinguishing variable being how much they staked their self-worth on academic competence.

Recent research has examined how threats to likeability (Park & Crocker, 2008) and physical appearance (Park & Maner, 2009) affect self-presentational goals and behavioral preferences among people with HSE vs. LSE. For example, following threats to appearance, HSE participants who based self-worth in this domain wanted to affiliate with close others, whereas those with LSE preferred to avoid social contact, opting instead for a "safer" strategy -- seeking to improve their physical attractiveness (Park & Maner, 2009). Current research is examining how threats to virtue, a relatively internally regulated domain, affects motivation and behavior.

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Gendered Beliefs and Dating Preferences

With funding from the National Science Foundation and Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE), our lab is currently investigating the impact of gendered beliefs and dating preferences on men and women's cognitive performance and interest in math/science fields. We propose that whereas the desire to appear attractive and intelligent are likely to be compatible goals for men, for some women, these goals may come into conflict. Recent findings from our lab have shown that compared to men, women are more likely to report a preference for dating someone smarter than themselves. The more women preferred a smarter partner, the worse they performed on a math test when primed with the goal to appear physically attractive. These findings suggest that women may underperform, either consciously or non-consciously, when their desire to appear attractive is activated (and they prefer to date someone smarter than themselves). This line of research will apply research findings on the consequences of gendered beliefs, dating preferences, and goal pursuit to better understand and address the gender gap in math/science achievement and interest.

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