Assessment, enhancement, and verification determinants of the self-evaluation process.

“Our proposition stands in contrast to literature that has underscored how important it is for people to feel skilled and competent (Sedikides, 1993; Taylor & Lobel, 1989) and to be viewed as competent by others (Jones & Pittman, 1982; Judge & Bretz, 1994; Rudman, 1998; Stevens & Kristof, 1995;…”

“How self-important (central) a personality trait is affects how a person seeks (Sedikides, 1993) and remembers (Sedikides et al.”

“The act of self-evaluation facilitates a review of goals, an assessment of progress, and a thoughtful consideration of areas for further growth [3].”

“Central self-attributes are highly positive, whereas peripheral self-attri-butes are of average valence (J. D. Campbell et al., 1996; Sedikides, 1993, 1995).”

“For example, Sedikides (1993) found that among the three major motivations for self-evaluation—the pursuit of accurate self-knowledge (self-assessment), the pursuit of favorable self-knowledge (self-enhancement), and the pursuit of highly certain self-knowledge (self-verification)—the…”

“…expectations which treat individuals as motivated to think highly of themselves and to see themselves as progressively improving over time (Baumeister, 1998; Higgins, 1996; Ross, Heine, Wilson, & Sugimori, 2005; Ross & Wang, 2010; Sedikides, 1993; Taylor & Brown, 1988; Wilson & Ross, 2001).”

“Thus, processing of self-relevant information is not only governed by the well-known motives of self-enhancement and self-consistency, but also by permanent necessity of realistically testing and depicting one’s self (Brown & Dutton, 1995; Dunning et al., 1995; Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides & Skowronski, 2000; Trope, 198…”

“Although, people have a strong desire to make positive impressions on both strangers and friends (Leary & Kowalski, 1990; Sedikides, 1993).”

“An accumulating literature suggests that individuals attach greater importance or centrality to some roles than to others (e.g., McCall & Simmons, 1966; Rosenberg, 1979; Stryker, 1987).”

“…than people who pursue accurate selfknowledge and are therefore high in self-assessment, or people high in self-verification who should accept negative feedback if it fits their self-concept (Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides, Gaertner, & Toguchi, 2003; Sedikides, Herbst, Hardin, & Dardis, 2002).”

“Moreover, studies that have directly compared the extent to which people may prioritize goals to reach self-serving conclusions over other competing goals have shown that it is most often these other competitors that are inhibited (Sedikides, 1993).”

“The major motivations associated with the self include consistency, enhancement of esteem, and gaining accurate knowledge about the self (Sedikides, 1993).”

“The desire to be viewed positively is a key driver of human behavior (Baumeister, 1982; Leary and Kowalski, 1990; Sedikides, 1993; Tetlock, 2002) and creating a positive image often leads to personal rewards (Gilmore and Ferris, 1989; Hogan, 1982; Schlenker, 1980).”

“A large literature suggests that people have a strong desire to view themselves positively and engage in a variety of selfenhancement strategies to maintain positive self-views (Baumeister, 1998; Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides & Hepper, 2009).”

“The model endorses the notion that people are motivated to defend, maintain, or increase the positivity of the self-concept (Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides & Strube, 1997).”

“, elaborated) autobiographic knowledge, are held with higher certainty, are more positive, and are more likely to be thought of as representing the "true" self (Dunning, Perie, & Story, 1991; Sedikides, 1993).”

“Self-enhancement is defined as a drive to elevate the positivity of one’s self-views by seeking positive and/or avoiding negative self-relevant information (e.g., Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides et al., 2003; Taylor & Brown, 1988).”

“At least in Western cultures, most people are motivated to maintain a positive view of themselves in the present (Alicke & Sedikides, 2009; Baumeister, 1998; Sedikides, 1993).”

“less diagnostic questions about negative characteristics than positive characteristics, even when the negative characteristics are chronic and self-defining (Sedikides, 1993).”

“…self-concept by using information (e.g. feedback from others) in such a way as to maximize the positivity of their self-concept and minimize their negativity; that is, people focus on favorable information and avoid unfavorable information for the self (Dauenheimer et al., 1998; Sedikides, 1993).”

“Much research suggests that people use social comparison as a means to self-enhance as opposed to a means of accurate self-assessment (e.g., Collins, 1996; Goethals & Darley, 1987; Sedikides, 1993; Taylor & Brown, 1988; Wheeler, 1966; Zuckerman & O’Loughlin, 2006).”

“…for example, reporting that they are more charitable, fairer, better drivers, and better teachers than their peers and colleagues (Alicke, 1985; Cross, 1977; Epley & Dunning, 2000; Messick, Bloom, Boldizar, & Samuelson, 1985; Sedikides, 1993; Svenson, 1981; Van Lange & Sedikides, 1998).”

“People generally want others to see them in a favorable light (e.g., Goffman 1959; Leary and Kowalski 1990; Sedikides 1993).”

“Exaggeratedpositivityincreasesafterself-esteemthreat(explicitly:Brown&Smart,1991;implicitly: Jonesetal.,2002),decreasesafterself-affirmation(McQueen&Klein,2006;Steele,1988)andis affectedbyadomain'simplicationsforself-esteem(Sedikides,1993).”

“Study 4: Boundary Condition While people are motivated to see themselves in a positive light, they are also motivated to maintain an accurate perception of themselves and often balance these two goals (Kunda, 1990; Sedikides, 1993).”

“…as people are motivated to perceive their relationships in a positive light, people are motivated to perceive themselves in a positive light (see Sedikides, 1993), and such motivations lead to deliberative self-evaluations that deviate from the more automatic, affectively laden ones captured by…”

“As self-researchers have demonstrated (e.g., Baumeister, 1998; Sedikides, 1993), self-enhancement is typically a stronger motive for self-knowledge than self-appraisal.”

“Past research has demonstrated the importance of these varied motives (eg, Sedikides, 1993 ; Swann, 1990 ; Trope, 1980 ).”

“Sedikides (1993) reported evidence that self-enhancement concerns are more potent than self-verification or selfassessment concerns when participants are in an information-gathering mode.”

“There has been a pervasive tendency toward self-enhancement in self-ratings relative to the evaluations of others (e.g. Brown & Dutton, 1995; Ilardi & Bridges, 1988; Leung, 1996; Sedikides, 1993).”

“Narcissists overestimate their own accomplishments and seem pretentious; although self-enhancement bias is common, narcissism is characterized by extreme levels of this bias ( Sedikides, 1993 ).”

“First, such an account explains the impact of self-esteem on the balance between self-verification and self-enhancing (Swann and Read, 1981; Taylor and Brown, 1988; Sedikides, 1993; Swann, 2011).”

“The individual self depends on comparing the self to an ‘other’ on an individual basis with the impetus of buoying up or ensuring the self’s differentiation in psychology to the surrounding ‘other’ (Brewer and Gardner 1996; Markus 1977; Sedikides 1993; Sedikides and Brewer 2000).”

“One way this is done is through a process of self-enhancement, which is the desire to seek information and interpret information in a way that is favorable to the self (Sedikides, 1993).”

“Such schemas guide the processing of self-relevant information (Markus, 1977), incorporate positively affirming information (Sedikides, 1993), seek information that confirms those core attributes (Swann, 1990) and, thereby, render a stable self that is resistant to both external (Markus, 1977) and…”

“In contrast, research supporting Self-Enhancement Theory has concentrated on processes which show that people desire feedback that is positive, regardless of whether it is consistent with their self-views (Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides & Strube, 1997).”

“Although psychologists extolled the benefits of self-esteem for decades, recent research has exposed potential costs associated with the pursuit of high self-esteem [14], including characteristics of narcissism [15], false self-perceptions [16], prejudice and violence toward those who threaten the ego [15].”

“In the absence of a strong, guiding rationale, we adopted a competitive hypothesis-testing approach (Platt, 1964; for similar approaches, see: Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides, Gaertner, Luke, O’Mara, & Gebauer, 2013).”

“Consistent with this prediction, only highly diagnostic behaviours were found to be susceptible to mnemic neglect (Green & Sedikides, 2004). Ego deflation may also modulate the mnemic neglect effect. Green and colleagues (2007) had participants complete a creativity task and gave participants feedback as to how well t…”

“Participants endorse nomothetically derived positive and typical traits (e.g., trustworthy, friendly, and kind) as their own most important traits (Sedikides, 1993).”

“…of self-verification (the pursuit of self-knowledge that is highly certain or based in higher levels of confidence; see also Reed & Forehand, 2016; Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides & Strube, 1997) and through processes of reducing the discrepancy between the present and future self in the work domain…”

“According to the notion of self-enhancement (Sedikides & Gregg, 2008), individuals have a basic desire to think favourably of themselves and see their actions in a positive light (Pfeffer & Fong, 2005; Sedikides, 1993; Stephan et al., 2015).”

“…challenging peer information, participants might be more likely to endorse items that they consider central and important to their self-concept (Sedikides, 1993), those that are difficult to measure (given that such endorsements are unlikely to be imminently tested; see Gilovich, Kerr, &…”

“, getting an accurate evaluation of the self [64]).”

“That is, do individuals self-enhance (e.g., Colvin & Block, 1994; Paulhus, 1998; Sedikides, 1993; Swann, Pelham, & Krull, 1989; Taylor & Brown, 1988), or do they view the self in relatively harsher terms than through the group’s eyes (e.”

“…has found a robust propensity for protecting the self from negative information (e.g., Ditto & Lopez, 1992; Kunda, 1990; Liberman & Chaiken, 1992; Sedikides, 1993) and has indicated that negative effects of social comparison are considerably less robust than positive effects (Gabriel et al.,…”

“Furthermore, diverse student behavior patterns, especially in interpersonal skills such as communication, make standardizing more difficult [9, 10].”

“…our need to either seek information/interaction with people/objects that will allow us to project flattering images of ourselves (self-advancement), or to avoid those that will highlight our less positive aspects (self-protection) – has been shown to be the strongest motivation (Sedikides, 1993).”

“The most obvious one is that people are strongly motivated to project a positive self-image (i.e., enhance or verify their positive self-esteem; Sedikides, 1993; Swann & Read, 1981).”

“Subsequent research identified three distinct possible motivations for engaging in self-evaluation activities, such as completing skill or trait tests: (1) The self-enhancement motive to improve the positivity of one’s self-concept [18], (2) the self-assessment motive to have an accurate and objective evaluation of th…”

“It is possible that certainty and the psychological drive for accurate self-knowledge (e.g., Sedikides, 1993) may underlie our effects.”

“While a great deal of research has focused on the conditions under which individuals actively seek positive information and avoid negative information ( Sedikides, 1993; Sedikides & Strube, 1997; Swann, Pelham, & Krull, 1989; Taylor, Neter, & Wayment, 1995), less is known about how individuals deal with both positive…”

“Sedikides (1993) argued that people’s self-enhancement needs are important and perhaps even preeminent most of the time.”

“tendencies, in fact, that some have argued that the need for enhancement is the primary motive of the self (Sedikides, 1993; Taylor and Brown, 1988).”

“Self-assessment theory argues that individuals are inherently motivated to obtain an accurate self-evaluation and a realistic appraisal of their strengths and weaknesses (Sedikides, 1993; Trope, 1986; Weiner, 1980).”

“…with evidence of greater overlap between ideal-self and actual-self personal ``prototypes’’ (Ogilvie, 1987), and with evidence that individuals adopt strategies of self-assessment that are biased to con®rm possession of positive traits and discon®rm possession of negative traits (Sedikides, 1993).”

“We know that self-image protection, maintenance, and enhancement processes can play a powerful role in how people actively process information, and that, in many instances, people are highly motivated to view themselves in a favorable light (Baumeister, 1998; Sedikides, 1993; Wood, Giordano-Beech, Taylor, Michela, & G…”

“This finding may explain the results of previous studies showing that inflated, unrealistic self‐views and low self‐esteem are related to poor mental health (Neff 2023a, 2023b; Sedikides 1993).”

“144 for a discussion), as many researchers consider this to be the default self-evaluative motive (e.g., Baumeister, Hamilton, & Tice, 1985; Farrow, Burgess, Wilkinson, & Hunter, 2015; Leary, 2007; Sedikides, 1993; Taylor & Brown, 1988).”

“However, this finding is not consistent with those of Bushman & Baumeister (1998); Sedikides (1993); Aberson, Healy & Romero (2000); Bushman & Thomaes (2011); Cramer and Jones (2008) and Peyvastegar, Yazdi & Mokhtari (2011).”