The Double-Edged Sword of Self-Enhancement: A Longitudinal Examination of the Effects of Self-Enhancement on Psychological and Physical Well-Being among Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

The present study prospectively examines factors that affect whether self-enhancement exerts favorable or unfavorable effects on both psychological and physical well-being in a context that is less controllable than other contexts in which self-enhancement has been examined (e.g., academic performance), an at risk population of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. In particular, the present study (a) examines whether self-enhancement differentially predicts psychological and physical well-being when self-enhancement is related or unrelated to the well-being outcomes, and (b) whether self-enhancement interacts with severity of circumstances (i.e., course of MS) to predict psychological and physical well-being, as suggested by O’Mara, McNulty, & Karney (2011). In addition to the baseline assessment, participants completed measures of self-enhancement (outcome-related and outcome-unrelated), and psychological and physical well-being every 30 days for 90 days, for a total of four assessments. The pattern of findings suggests that in less controllable contexts, self-enhancement is a doubled-edged sword. Outcome-related self-enhancement was trending towards a positive, cross-sectionally association with physical well-being, and a measure of prior outcome-unrelated self-enhancement (collectivistic tactical self-enhancement) was positively associated with subsequent physical well-being only for individuals with less severe MS. Further, prior outcome-related self-enhancement was associated with better subsequent psychological well-being but worse subsequent physical well-being, and although prior collectivistic tactical self-enhancement is associated with favorable subsequent physical well-being for individuals with less severe MS, it is also associated unfavorable psychological well-being regardless of MS severity. The discussion addresses the contributions of the present study to the literature, strengths and limitations of the present study, and directions for future research.