Compromises produced by the dialectic between self-verification and self-enhancement.
Three studies of people's reactions to evaluative feedback demonstrated that the dialectic between self-enhancement and self-verification results in compromises between these 2 motives, as hypothesized in cognitive-experiential self-theory. The demonstration was facilitated by 2 procedural improvements: Enhancement and verification were established by calibrating evaluative feedback against self appraisals, and degree of enhancement and of verification were varied along a continuum, rather than categorically. There was also support for the hypotheses that processing in an intuitive-experiential mode favors enhancement and processing in an analytical-rational mode favors verification in the kinds of situations investigated.
Morling
B
B
Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003, USA.
Epstein
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology