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Peterson_Thesis_2016.pdf (704.52 KB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
Taking it Personally: Individual Differences in the Interpretation of Negative Evaluations
Author Info
Peterson, Ashlei Margaret
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460372882
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2016, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Abstract
Dispositional feedback, regardless of valence, has various negative behavioral consequences. However, what exactly is evaluated in feedback can be ambiguous and result in different interpretations. Until now, individual differences in subjective processing of feedback have been largely unexplored. Are some people more likely to take feedback personally? In this paper, we proposed that one’s interpretation of negative, ambiguous remarks is associated with his or her attachment security, i.e. their internal working models. This hypothesis was tested via survey methodology. In Study 1, participants differed in their interpretations of ambiguous, negative evaluations based on their attachment status. Fearful individuals, those with negative internal working models of both the self and others, were significantly more likely to take feedback personally than secure participants. In Study 2, participants uniformly rated 30 negative adjectives’ descriptiveness for various referents, ruling out individual differences in the perception of default referents for negative remarks void of context. In Study 3, the type of relationship between individuals globally affected participants’ interpretations of ambiguous, negative remarks and participants displayed attachment differences in their interpretation of evaluations from a third- vs. first-person perspective. These results provide initial evidence of attachment-related differences in the likelihood to take negative evaluations personally.
Committee
Susan Johnson (Advisor)
John Gibbs (Committee Member)
Laura Wagner (Committee Member)
Pages
72 p.
Subject Headings
Developmental Psychology
Keywords
Attachment
;
Interal Working Models
;
Individual Differences
;
Evaluations
;
Feedback
;
Social Information Processing
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Citations
Peterson, A. M. (2016).
Taking it Personally: Individual Differences in the Interpretation of Negative Evaluations
[Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460372882
APA Style (7th edition)
Peterson, Ashlei.
Taking it Personally: Individual Differences in the Interpretation of Negative Evaluations.
2016. Ohio State University, Master's thesis.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460372882.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Peterson, Ashlei. "Taking it Personally: Individual Differences in the Interpretation of Negative Evaluations." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460372882
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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Document number:
osu1460372882
Download Count:
552
Copyright Info
© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.