Article: Shaken self-confidence? Certain products and activities can fix it.

Someone who has momentarily lost confidence in her intelligence is more likely to purchase a pen than a candy bar, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. The pen helps restore her belief in herself as an intelligent person (see also University of Chicago Press Journals).

Authors Leilei Gao (Chinese University of Hong Kong), S. Christian Wheeler, and Baba Shiv (both Stanford University) look at how subtle manipulations such as having someone write with his or her non-dominant hand can measurably reduce a person's self-confidence. The authors call this the "shaken self," and believe it persists until the person is able to do, acquire, or ...

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