Work

When self-destructive thoughts flash through the mind: Failure to meet standards affects the accessibility of suicide-related thoughts.

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: When individuals realize that they fail to attain important standards or expectations, they may be motivated to escape the self, which could lead thoughts of suicide to become more accessible. Six studies examined this hypothesis, mainly derived from escape theory (Baumeister, 1990). The results indicated that whenever individuals realize that they fail to attain an important standard, they experience increased accessibility of suicide-related thoughts (Studies 1-6). In line with the idea that such effects reflect motivations to escape from negative self-awareness, they were especially pronounced when associated with high levels of self-consciousness and escapist motivations (Study 1) and with a large discrepancy between self and standards (Studies 2-4). Moreover, failure to attain standards increased suicide-thought accessibility along with the desire for an altered state of consciousness (Study 5). Finally, increases in suicide-thought accessibility after failure were associated with simultaneous increases in accessibility of general concepts related to escape (Study 6). Implications of these findings for escape and terror management theories are discussed.

Source: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

DOI: 10.1037/a0022461

Authors: Armand Chatard, Leila Selimbegović

Institutions: University of Geneva, Université de Poitiers, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage

Language: English

Topic: Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS