Flash Reports Threat, high self-esteem, and reactive approach-motivation: Electroencephalographic evidence Ian McGregor a, * , Kyle A. Nash a , Michael Inzlicht b a York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3 b University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1C 1A4 article info Article history: Received 4 December 2008 Revised 5 April 2009 Available online xxxx Keywords: Self-esteem Uncertainty threat Extremism Antisocial behavior Approach-motivation Electroencephalography abstract High self-esteem predicts personal resilience but also predicts zealous and antisocial reactions to various threats, such as, failure, uncertainty, and mortality salience. The present research supports a basic moti- vational interpretation of high self-esteem that can account for its resilient but also its zealous and anti- social tendencies. An experimentally manipulated uncertainty threat caused participants with high self- esteem to react with heightened Relative Left Frontal (F7/F8) EEG Activity, a common neural marker of resilient approach-motivation. As predicted by past theorizing on offensive defensiveness (McGregor, 2006), the obtained pattern of neural results mirrors the interaction effect of self-esteem and threat on various antisocial defenses. It is accordingly suggested that reactive approach-motivation processes may help provide an integrative account for some of the angry, zealous, proud, risky, ideological, mean- ing-seeking, and worldview defense reactions to various threats that have been reported in the social psychological literature. Ó 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. In North America high self-esteem is widely assumed to be an unmitigated virtue and the backbone of good character. Parents lavish affirmation on their children and school boards tailor policy to build self-esteem (reviewed in Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996; Crocker & Park, 2004). Despite such popular devotion, and evidence that high self-esteem can indeed be associated with per- sonal and relational resilience (e.g., Murray, Holmes, MacDonald, & Ellsworth, 1998; Stinson et al., 2008; Trzesniewski et al., 2006), re- search also persistently reveals an antisocial side of high self-es- teem. After experiencing threat, people with high self-esteem can tend to become antagonistic and self-righteously dismissive of oth- ers who hold alien perspectives (e.g., Heatherton & Vohs, 2000; McGregor, Nail, Marigold, & Kang, 2005; Park & Crocker, 2005; Vohs & Heatherton, 2001). Findings like these have led some reviewers to conclude that, on balance, high self-esteem burdens society (Baumeister et al., 1996; see also Crocker & Park, 2004). The present research tests a reactive approach-motivation ac- count of high self-esteem that holds potential for informing both its resilient and antisocial aspects. Building on past suggestive re- search linking high self-esteem to approach-motivated personal goals (Heimpel, Elliot, & Wood, 2006; McGregor, Gailliot, Vasquez, & Nash, 2007; see also Leonardelli, Lakin, & Arkin, 2007), we pre- dicted that people with high self-esteem would tend to react to threat with neural activity characteristic of approach-motivation. Such heightened states of reactive approach-motivation could con- fer rewarding personal resilience by decreasing preoccupation with threats: Past research shows that neural, behavioral neurosci- ence, and self-report indices of approach-motivation are associated with attenuated startle-reflex, less negative reactions to aversive stimuli, more happiness and meaning, and less depression and negative affect in general (Drake & Myers, 2006; Elliot, 2008; Gian- otti et al., 2009; Jackson et al., 2003; Urry et al., 2004). However, approach motivated states also constrict attention and intention to personal goals (Gable & Harmon-Jones, 2008; McGregor et al., 2007) and could thereby mute sensitivity to others’ perspectives. Indeed, the approach-motivation-related phenomenon of power (Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003) is associated with impaired perspective-taking and objectification of others in service of per- sonal goals (Galinsky, Gruendeld, & Magee, 2003; Galinsky, Magee, Inesi, & Gruenfeld, 2006; Gruenfeld, Inesi, Magee, & Galinsky, 2008). Accordingly, it could be that reactive approach-motivation after threat confers powerful insulation from threat but with the antisocial side effect of myopic unconcern for others. To test the basis of this account—our hypothesis that people with high self-esteem respond to threat with reactive approach- motivation—we assessed left frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry as a neural marker of approach-motivation. Motivational asymmetry is a fundamental property of brain orga- nization that allows for some specialized regulation of goals re- lated to approaching incentives and avoiding threats (Elliot, 2008). Links between left-frontal asymmetry and approach-moti- vation were first noticed in patients with focal lesions to the left 0022-1031/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.04.011 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: ianmc@yorku.ca (I. McGregor). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology xxx (2009) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Experimental Social Psychology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jesp ARTICLE IN PRESS Please cite this article in press as: McGregor, I., et al. Threat, high self-esteem, and reactive approach-motivation: Electroencephalographic evidence. Jour- nal of Experimental Social Psychology (2009), doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.04.011