On confidence and consequence: The certainty and importance of self-knowledge.

Abstract

Belief certainty and belief importance represent 2 relatively independent forms of investment in the self-concept. Three studies suggested that whereas certainty is associated with epistemic (i.e., rational or informational) factors, importance is more closely associated with emotive (i.e., emotional and motivational) factors. A 4th study explored the implications of certainty and importance for the temporal stability of people's self-views and revealed that whereas belief certainty was associated with the stability of both positive and negative beliefs, belief importance was associated with the stability of positive beliefs only. The implications of belief investment for the verification-enhancement debate and for the structure and measurement of the self-concept are discussed.

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   Kling, Kristen C., Hyde, Janet Shibley, Showers, Carolin J., Buswell, Brenda N. · 1999 · Psychological Bulletin
3. Self-Evaluation: To Thine Own Self Be Good, To Thine Own Self Be Sure, To Thine Own Self Be True, and To Thine Own Self be Better
   Sedikides, Constantine, Strube, Michael J. · 1997 · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
4. Do people's self-views matter? Self-concept and self-esteem in everyday life.
   Swann, William B., Chang-Schneider, Christine, Larsen McClarty, Katie · 2007 · American Psychologist
5. What's in a name: implicit self-esteem and the automatic self
   Koole, Sander L., Dijksterhuis, Ap, van Knippenberg, Ad · 2001 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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