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Objective: The present study examined the role of self‐esteem stabilization processes in response to restrictive developmental conditions in early adulthood. It did so by investigating accommodative adjustments among incarcerated young adults. It was argued that an adjustment of how an individual desires to be to how they actually perceive themselves (i.e., accommodative adjustment) can help to maintain a more stable self‐esteem and buffers negative changes. Method: Within a longitudinal design with three measurements occasions data of N = 728 incarcerated men between the age of 14 and 24 were analyzed. Accommodative adjustments were assessed at two occasions as adaptations of the ideal self‐concept ("I would like to be...") to the previous actual self‐concept ("I am..."). In addition, assimilative adjustments were operationalized as adaptations of the actual self‐concept to the previous ideal self‐concept that means changing what individuals think of themselves in accordance to how they desire to be. Results: Regression analysis showed that accommodative adjustments predicted self‐esteem. Moreover, accommodative processes were particularly important when assimilative processes were less pronounced. Conclusion: Especially at the beginning of the incarceration period, accommodative adjustments of the self‐concept buffer damaging effects of incarceration and support the (re‐)stabilization of self‐esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of studies suggest that humor is associated with mental well-being and effective as a means of coping. However, it is less well-understood which mechanisms are effective for this particular function of humor. The present study examines whether processes of change of perspective, which are often regarded as constitutive for humor, could be an effective coping-factor when facing unrequited love as a specific psychological burden. In a questionnaire study, N = 148 persons aged 18–65 years (w = 96) with actual or past experiences of unrequited love reported on their subjective burden due to this experience, their self-esteem and satisfaction with life, two scales for humor (Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale: MSHS, and a self-constructed scale: Humorous Change of Perspective, HCOP) and a coping scale which measure change of perspective in the confrontation with goal blockages (Flexible Goal Adjustment, FGA). Results indicated that the burden of unrequited love [operationalized objectively as actuality of experience (dichotomous) or subjectively as burden experienced] and both indicators of well-being were negatively associated. Multiple regression analyses showed that humor was a significant moderator of this relationship in nearly all combinations of operationalizations of humor and indicators of well-being: Higher levels of humor are associated with better well-being even when the perceived burden was high. In addition, the study examined whether the coping effect of humor can be partly or mainly attributed to the individual's capacity to perspective change as captured by FGA. When including this scale as a covariate in the regression models, the moderation effect for MSHS did not persist; however, for HCOP the moderation effect remained unchanged: the moderator effect of humorous change of perspective proved to be independent of FGA. Taken together the results suggest that perspective-changing skills play a significant role in the coping effect of humor in dealing with psychological burdens. However, depending on which humor facet is measured, the entailed perspective change may or may not appear to go beyond what the individual's FGA can account for. This suggests that the coping effect caused by humorous change of perspective includes aspects that are also discussed for other coping resources as well as its own, humor-specific aspects. Potential avenues for future studies are discussed both with respect to the necessity for replication and extension of the present study and to the determination of other potential alleviativing effects of other facets of humor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was assumed that the definition of traits that are central to the individual self-concept is adapted to individual competencies (self-concept immunization), i.e., skills that individuals believe themselves to be good at are conceived as diagnostic whereas skills that individuals do not possess are considered as less diagnostic. The mental representation of traits was investigated by semantic priming. Targets were self-relevant traits whereas the primes described observable skills that were either semantically related to the target or not. Corresponding to the hypothesis, priming effects were observed for skills that participants believed themselves to possess and that were related to traits central to the self-concept. The pattern was reversed for participants with low self-esteem, thereby underscoring a coping-theoretical interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The change in self-esteem and the stabilising role of accommodative coping resources among incarcerated young male offenders is investigated using a longitudinal approach with three occasions of measurements (begining of prison term, 2 months later, end of prison term). Data from 211 participants with a complete set of measurements were analysed, employing multilevel modelling. Results show that self-esteem increases during imprisonment. Moreover, this increase in self-esteem depends on the individual competence of accommodative coping: The increase in self-esteem is earlier and faster for high accommodative individuals. These findings are discussed with respect to the development of the self during imprisonment as well as to their implications for the future social behaviour and integration of former prisoners after release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative effect of a custodial sentence on juvenile self-esteem is discussed. It is argued that individual coping resources offer an explanation for the inconclusive findings of earlier studies in this field. Findings of a cross-sectional study of 299 prisoners (14 to 24 years) are presented. The results show that the stability of self-esteem during incarceration depends on both accommodative and immunizing coping reactions. Prisoners who do not possess at least one of these coping resources show particularly low self-esteem at the start of their term of imprisonment. This creates the misleading impression that for the average individual, self-esteem increases during a period of custody. The study also shows that in the latter period of a prison term, accommodative coping resources also tend to support an increase in immunizing reactions. Implications for longitudinal studies and for practical interventions in the juvenile custody system are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In an affective priming experiment (N =60), participants’ initials were used as masked primes. We found a significant priming effect (denoting positivity of the personal initials) if personal initials (compared to yoked participants’ initials) were followed by other-relevant positive or negative targets (e.g., honest, cruel). For possessor-relevant targets (e.g., healthy, lonely), there was no main effect of priming. However, this priming index positively correlated with explicit self-esteem. For participants with high self esteem, a positive effect was found, whereas for participants with low self-esteem, a negative effect was found. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]