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Positive Illusion Coping Styles: Adaptive Denial, Defensiveness, Depression

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Positive Illusion Coping Styles: Adaptive Denial, Defensiveness, Depression Positive Illusion Coping Styles: Adaptive denial, defensiveness, depression, and the protection of self-esteem Jari Claudia Evertsz A thesis submitted to the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences July 2017 The University of Melbourne In fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy I Abstract The field of positive psychology has been gathering ground over the last decade and positive psychology approaches are now being used in mental health treatment settings. Criticisms of positive psychology include a proliferation in its claims of benefits, a re-packaging of well-established constructs, and a lack of empirical validation. Two common themes in positive psychology literature relate to adaptive psychological mechanisms and emotion regulation. One area that incorporates both of these is Positive Illusions, an entity first proposed by Taylor and Brown (1988). Taylor and Brown (1988) speculated that a functioning system of ‘illusions’ would serve to isolate threat, support self-esteem and maintain optimism and motivation. Sharp contrast was drawn between groups showing these positive biasing tendencies and depressed populations. In the years since this seminal article the construct has been routinely mentioned or utilized without being empirically tested. Adaptive mechanisms that work need to demonstrate their effectiveness both over time and under challenge, however. This study examines whether natural buffering strategies exist in individuals, whether they have utility in the prevention of depression, how independently they function in relation to other psychological constructs, and whether they may be particularly helpful in the presence of negative life events or stressors. A self-report measure was developed which demonstrated construct validity, reliability and consistency of performance over time. A 2-factor structure was clearly the best representation of the data. As represented by this scale, positive illusions (PIS) correlated negatively with depression, and positively with self-esteem, denial, and defensiveness. Higher self-esteem and higher overall PIS predicted significantly lower depression. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the performance of PIS over time, and its independence in relation to other constructs. PIS scores alone, only accounted for 1% of additional variance over and above other predictive variables in relation to depression, but nevertheless this was a statistically significant addition to the model. Self -esteem as an interaction term was found to be highly correlated with other variables and so was not incorporated in the final modelling sequence. Neuroticism was a significant setting factor for PIS, with PIS and neuroticism together accounting for a significant proportion of the variance in depression; yet the PIS construct also demonstrated its independence from Neuroticism. Positive illusions, denial and defensiveness showed very similar levels of correlation to depression – and to each other, implying that there may be a grouping of phenomena that acts similarly or together to influence depression outcomes. Given the negative correlations to Neuroticism, its opposite (i.e., Surgency) is likely to be a factor that allows the possibility of these types of operation to take place. II Declaration As the author of this thesis I declare that: • The thesis comprises only my original work towards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; • Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used; • The thesis is fewer than the maximum word limit in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices as approved by the Research Higher Degrees Committee. Signed:………………………………………… Jari Claudia Evertsz III Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my supervisor Professor Henry Jackson. His exceptional patience, wisdom, and immense depth of knowledge have guided this project over the long period to its completion. His gentle humour and kindness combined with unwavering high standards have long set the bar for others to follow. I owe the majority of my academic progress to him; he is one of a kind as an academic and a mentor. Special gratitude is owed to The University of Melbourne for the wonderful teaching standards that it upholds and for its fantastic facilities – it has been a true privilege to study here. I am very grateful to Galina Daraganova and Jeromy Anglim for their expert guidance on statistical matters and to Chris Newton for his great support and advice in compilation. My wonderful Master’s /Doctoral cohort are stellar examples in their dedication to their chosen fields and their exceptional academic achievements. They are an inspiration. And finally to my entire family – Bill and Margarita; Claude and Annabel; Asha, Natalia and Marina; Mark and Ann; Rick, and Elnaz - my thanks and gratitude for your constant interest, humour and encouragement: as always, you make every difficult task worthwhile. IV Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................................. II DECLARATION .......................................................................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................ IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................ V LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................................ X LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................. XI CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCIENCE OF WELLBEING: A GROWING FIELD .... 1 A SPECIFIC AIM IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: EMOTION REGULATION .............................................................................................. 2 INFLUENCES UPON DEPRESSION ............................................................................................................................................. 3 EMPIRICAL AND LESS EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF SELF-PROTECTION MECHANISMS ............................................................................... 4 THE EMERGENCE OF THE CONCEPT OF POSITIVE ILLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 5 EMPIRICAL TESTING OF THE POSITIVE ILLUSIONS CONCEPT .......................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE TO DEPRESSION .................................................................................. 8 PREVALENCE OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER ....................................................................................................................... 9 INCREASE IN DEPRESSION INCIDENCE .................................................................................................................................... 10 GENDER DIFFERENCES IN DEPRESSION .................................................................................................................................. 11 COMORBIDITY IN DEPRESSION ............................................................................................................................................. 12 AGE OF ONSET AND COURSE IN DEPRESSION ......................................................................................................................... 12 IMPAIRMENTS TO FUNCTIONING .......................................................................................................................................... 13 CATEGORIES VERSUS DIMENSIONS IN DEPRESSION .................................................................................................................. 14 SUBTHRESHOLD PRESENTATIONS IN DEPRESSION .................................................................................................................... 15 CAUSATION FACTORS IN DEPRESSION ................................................................................................................................... 16 PREVENTION OF DEPRESSION .............................................................................................................................................. 19 FOCUS OF THIS STUDY ....................................................................................................................................................... 19 THE HISTORICAL MODELLING OF DEPRESSIVE VULNERABILITY ................................................................................................... 20 ATTENTIONAL BIAS AND NEGATIVE SELF-FOCUSED ATTENTION .................................................................................................. 21 DIATHESIS-STRESS: THE CONTRIBUTION OF NEGATIVE LIFE EXPERIENCES TO DEPRESSION ............................................................... 22 SELF-ESTEEM MAINTENANCE AND HOMEOSTATIC MECHANISMS ..............................................................................................
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