Self-Discrepancy Theory: What Patterns of Self-Beliefs Cause People to Suffer?

Abstract

The basic premise of self-discrepancy theory is that it is the relations between and among different types of self-beliefs or self-state representations that produce emotional vulnerabilities rather than the particular content or nature of the actual self or of any other individual self-belief. To distinguish among different types of self-state representations, self-discrepancy theory proposes two psychological parameters: the domains of the self and the standpoints on the self. The chapter presents the reports of associations between particular types of discrepant self-beliefs and particular kinds of discomfort that are generally consistent with the predictions of self-discrepancy theory. However, the effect of the magnitude of different types of self-discrepancies on the intensity of different kinds of discomfort has been tested. For the vulnerability associated with a particular self-belief pattern to eventuate in an episode—that is, an occurrence of suffering—the self-belief pattern must be activated. The chapter explains the various factors that can increase the likelihood that a stored construct will be activated. One source of activation is the applicability of the construct to a stimulus event. According to self-discrepancy theory, the interrelations among attributes constituting an actual/ownself-guide discrepancy represent, as a whole, a negative psychological situation that functions as a construct. Thus, the negative psychological situation represented by such a discrepancy and the emotional-motivational state associated with it are more likely to be activated when the negative psychological situation is applicable to a stimulus event than when it is nonapplicable.