Self-affirmation as a deliberate coping strategy: The moderating role of choice

Self-affirmation interventions, in which people write about personal values, show promise as a technique to help people cope with psychological threat. However, recent research shows that awareness of self-affirmation effects undermines them. We hypothesized that awareness attenuates self-affirmation effects only when completion of the affirmation is externally imposed, rather than personally chosen. In two experiments, self-affirmation effects reemerged when “affirmation-aware” participants were given a choice about either whether to affirm or not (Study 1) or simply which value to write about (Study 2). These results suggest that people can learn to actively apply self-affirmation as a tool for coping with everyday threats. ► We examined whether self-affirmation can aid coping with threat if users are aware of its function. ► As in prior research, being told about affirmation's benefits and then required to affirm negated the benefits. ► However, choosing to self-affirm after learning about the benefits restored them. ► This occurred even when the “choice” was merely incidental. ► Suggests that people can be taught to self-affirm in their everyday lives.