| dc.description.abstract | This paper studies the presence, resilience and direction of the self-positivity bias under various conditions to examine the role of self-esteem maintenance as an important antecedent for the bias. There are two parts in this paper. First part includs three studies which examining the reason underlining the self-positivity bias. Study 1 shows that perceptions of the controllability of cancer as well as presence of base-rate information can be contextually manipulated, and together eliminate the self-positivity bias in perceptions of the risk of cancer. Study 2 shows the same effects using four life events that differ in terms of valence and perceived controllability: base-rate information affects self-estimates for uncontrollable life events, reducing the self-positivity bias, but does not affect self-estimates for controllable events. In Study 3, we show that this effect only applies for optimistic individuals who fail to incorporate base-rate information to update self-perceptions for controllable events. Pessimists, on the other hand, use base-rates to update self-estimates irrespective of the controllability of the event. Overall, the pattern suggests that self-positivity is attenuated in conditions that implicate self-esteem. Another supplement study examines the underlying reason behind the self-positivity bias. In the second part of this paper, a single study --study 4 replicates the findings of previous three studies. As events perceived to be controllable implicate self-esteem more so than less controllable ones, they are more prone to self-positivity effects. On the other hand, as less controllable events do not implicate self-esteem, only when the order-of-elicitation cues comparative (versus absolute) judgments about the self, does the self-positivity effect emerge. When information about “self” is asked first, the bias is attenuated, but when others’ estimates are elicited prior to self-estimates, the bias re-emerges even for uncontrollable events. Implications for health marketing are offered. | en_US |