{"doi":"10.1177/0146167285112004","title":"Persistence in the Face of Failure","abstract":"<jats:p>Past research has found that high self-esteem individuals tend to respond to failure with increased persistence, even under conditions in which such persistence is nonproductive. Janoff-Bulman and Brickman (1982) have argued, however, that high self-esteem individuals tend to make better use of information telling them when to quit and when to persist than low self-esteem individuals. This study tested whether differential sensitivity to information about the efficacy of persistence moderates nonproductive persistence. Following initial failure, high self-esteem subjects who received information linking persistence to performance on a puzzle-solving task tended to persist longer on unsolvable puzzles than did low self-esteem subjects. The reverse was true, however, when subjects received information indicating a noncontingency between persistence and performance. Results are discussed in terms of information use and general performance expectancies.</jats:p>","journal":"Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin","year":1985,"id":592587,"datarank":2.3597886564094743,"base_score":3.6109179126442243,"endowment":3.6109179126442243,"self_citation_contribution":0.5416376868966337,"citation_network_contribution":1.8181509695128404,"self_endowment_contribution":0.5416376868966337,"citer_contribution":1.8181509695128404,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":36,"citer_count":36,"citers_with_citation_signal":31,"citers_with_endowment":31,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1516450,"name":"Dean B. McFarlin","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Persistence in the Face of Failure","abstract":"<jats:p>Past research has found that high self-esteem individuals tend to respond to failure with increased persistence, even under conditions in which such persistence is nonproductive. Janoff-Bulman and Brickman (1982) have argued, however, that high self-esteem individuals tend to make better use of information telling them when to quit and when to persist than low self-esteem individuals. This study tested whether differential sensitivity to information about the efficacy of persistence moderates nonproductive persistence. Following initial failure, high self-esteem subjects who received information linking persistence to performance on a puzzle-solving task tended to persist longer on unsolvable puzzles than did low self-esteem subjects. The reverse was true, however, when subjects received information indicating a noncontingency between persistence and performance. Results are discussed in terms of information use and general performance expectancies.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":3.6109179126442243,"endowment":3.6109179126442243,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"20725694","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W2047377442","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":1.7576,"citation_percentile":0.84494603,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2012,"count":2},{"year":2013,"count":1},{"year":2014,"count":1},{"year":2015,"count":2},{"year":2016,"count":1},{"year":2017,"count":1},{"year":2023,"count":1}],"oa_status":"closed","license":"https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167285112004","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167285112004","host_type":"journal"}],"fields_of_study":["Behavioral Health and Interventions","Personality Traits and Psychology","Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics"],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":["Persistence (discontinuity)","Psychology","Self-esteem","Social psychology","Task (project management)","Developmental psychology"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-26T14:21:51.026552Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}