Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect.

“Based on classic motivation theory (Gardner and Lambert 1972), combining Ruvolo and Markus (1992) self theory and Higgins’ (1987) self-discrepancy theory , Dörnyei (2009a) conceptualised the L2MSS.”

“34,35 Users select avatars to ful fi ll their needs, allowing them to express their identity, 32,33 foster creativity, and experience immersion.”

“This finding provides support for the self-role discrepancy theory, which posits that the perception of incongruence between one’s actual self and ideal self leads to adverse psychological outcomes [35].”

“Like moral disengagement or cognitive dissonance theory, moral balancing follows the longstanding view in psychology that individuals seek consistency in their self-concept, attitudes, and behaviors (Festinger, 1954; P. M. Gollwitzer, 1987; Higgins, 1987).”

“Therefore, it is very likely that people with inferiority complex prefer to present themselves positively using SNS. Choi and Suh (2017) found that the more people felt hurt, the more likely they were to immerse themselves in SNS.”

“On this point, there is considerable research (again, predominately in gaming contexts) concerning the relationship between avatar choice/design and an individual’s sense of identity – usually drawing upon self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987).”

“The starting point of RF theory was the self-discrepancy theory, with its distinction between the "ideal-” and "ought” self [37], otherwise known as standards [38].”

“And self-discrepancy theory (SDT) suggests that people strive to reduce discrepancy between others' evaluation of them and their own selfevaluation (Higgins, 1987).”

“People incline to think better of themselves and want to maintain their ideal selves (Higgins, 1987).”

“The self-discrepancy model (Higgins, 1987) suggests that the discrepancy between the current state and the expected state itself might be associated with anxiety and agitation- or dejection-related affective states.”

“In addition, recognition of self-discrepancy can also start the process of intentional change in an individual, a team’s recognition that it is operating far from its ideal state can spark a collective desire for change (Boyatzis & Dhar, 2021; Higgins, 1987).”

“Thus, when a nation-state sees no possibility of achieving its romantic ideal identity even when faced with the idea of realistic global solidarity and collaboration, such a nation-state is likely to reject it (Higgins 1987).”

“A distinction can be made between ideal self and feared self [1, 2].”

“The assessment of the relationship to oneself undergoes a fundamental change in the period of prepubescence, i.e. at the age of 9-11 when, according to Higgins [18], there occurs a significant shift from identification to internalization and where external norms become self-guides.”

“She then turned her questions to their social comparison processes and self-evaluations, using Festinger’s (1954) and Higgins’ (1987) theories on selves, comparisons, and selfdiscrepancies to guide these questions.”

“According to the early development of the RFT by Higgins (1987, 1997), prevention and promotion focus first develop in individuals from an early age through interaction with their educators and surroundings in childhood (Higgins 1987, 1997; J. Keller 2008).”

“Many individuals, especially in the Western world, are motivated to make progress in their quest to become more like their ideal selves, which reflects aspirations and skills that they intrinsically wish to acquire (Higgins, 1987, 1989; Markus & Nurius, 1986).”

“Regulatory focus theory offers a novel lens for understand ‑ ing L2 WTC Higgins ( 1987 ), yet its interaction with per‑ sonality traits and application to human–GenAI contexts remain underexplored.”

“In self-discrepancy theory (Higgins 1987), self-guides are operational at micro-level timescales.”

“The ideal self represents aspirational goals and desired attributes, guiding the motivational orientation toward consumption (Higgins 1987; Malär et al. 2011; Peng et al. 2025).”

“When freshmen perceive a gap between their actual performance and the high standards internalized from their cultural context, psychological distress is likely to ensue (Higgins, 1987).”

“Self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) posits that the self-system comprises various representations.”

“The Self-discrepancy theory (57) states that the signi fi cant disparity between an individual ’ s actual self and their ideal self is associated with dejection-related emotions (e.g. sadness), which drives them to integrate these self-perceptions, so adolescents may choose internet games as a way…”

“This tendency has been observed in previous digital contexts and aligns with self-discrepancy theory [30], which suggests that individuals are motivated to reduce the perceived gap between their actual and ideal selves.”

“Hagabeon menekankan pentingnya keturunan dalam sistem patrilineal sebagai jaminan keberlanjutan marga [17].”

“…Social structure More egalitarian and role-free, viewing others as equal entities with unique sets of stable characteristics Gudykunst & Lee, 2003; Higgins, (1987); Kitayama et al. (2004); Kitayama and Uchida (2005); Kitayama et al. (2009); Kühnen and Hannover (2010); Lee et al. (2000); Levine et…”

“Prior research indicates that discrepancies involving the ought self can produce agitation-related emotions (e.g., anxiety, guilt) and lead to increased impression-management efforts in online contexts (Higgins, 1987; Hu et al., 2022).”

“…self-discrepancy theory, while using Social Cognitive Theory to strengthen the mechanism-based interpretation of influencer effects in high-engagement social media settings (Bandura, 1986, 2001; Dibble et al., 2016; Friestad and Wright, 1994; Higgins, 1987; Horton and Wohl, 1956; Ohanian, 1990).”

“.3 Comparing models Tracy and Robins (2004) base the process model of self-conscious emotions on two assumptions; (i) Higgins’ (1987) general intuition that different emotions are triggered by discrepancies in different states of the self, and (ii) the study of Carver and Scheier (1998) which holds…”

“Maximum down-ward envy represents the peak intensity of these painful and socially undesirable feelings, and its management demands substantial self-regulatory resources (Higgins, 1987).”

“According to self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987), unmet expectations can intensify anxiety.”

“This approach allows for the development of context-specific theories without the constraints of preexisting (Higgins, 1987; Buunk & Gibbons, 2007).”

“How this desire is met in consumption is explained through the frameworks of self-discrepancy and compensatory consumption (Higgins, 1987; Rucker & Galinsky, 2008).”

“State shame is typically experienced when an individual encounters a self-discrepancy that occurs when one ’ s actual self (the current self) is perceived to be different from their ideal self (the desired self) or ought self (the self they should be or others expect them to be; Higgins, 1987).”

“Confrontation can therefore activate a discrepancy between people’s biased responses and their own or important others’ standards for responding (Higgins, 1987; Monteith et al., 1993).”

“In our study, we used a different method based on prior work on self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) and cultural values of the idealization of life satisfaction (Diener et al., 2000).”

“As Higgins (1987) [46] suggested, individuals who experience a greater disparity between their real and ideal selves are more likely to feel disappointed, dissatisfied, or sad.”

“…women constantly self-scrutinize themselves compared to cultural stereotypes (triberti et al., 2019). in accordance with the self Discrepancy theory by Higgins (1987), the discrepancy between one’s own current and desired self-representations lead to dissatisfaction and emotional distress.”

“When there is a gap between one's actual body and the ideal, body image concerns can intensify (Higgins, 1987; Wonderlich et al., 2010).”

“This latter circumstance may be even more likely to produce a sense of home, as it may elevate their status in the community by presenting their ideal or ought rather than actual self (as de fi ned by self-discrepancy theory; Higgins, 1987, 1989; Mason et al., 2019).”

“Orientation type, which reflects an individual’s motivational focus, is typically classified into promotion-oriented and prevention-oriented (Higgins, 1987).”

“The study is rooted in the Self-Discrepancy theory by psychologist Tory [39] .”

“Higgins [35] identifies three basic identity domains—actual self, ideal self and ought self—your representation of attributes that someone (yourself or another) believes you actually possess, wants you to ideally possess (e.g., hopes, aspirations), and believes you should or ought to possess (e.g.,…”

“…that individuals experience negative affect when there is misalignment between the attributes they believe they possess (i.e., “the actual self”), the attributes they desire (i.e., “the ideal self”), and the attributes they believe they should possess (i.e., “the ought self”) (Higgins, 1987).”

“Regulatory focus theory (RFT) was developed from self-discrepancy theory (Higgins 1987).”

“Self-Concept Discrepancy Theory (SCDT) (Higgens, Klein, & Strauman, 1985; Higgins, 1987) suggests that a person’s sense of self relates to different domains of and standpoints on the self—informed by themselves and others.”

“Do¨rnyei’s point about the IL2 was also based on a concept put forth by Higgins (1987) called the self-discrepancy theory.”

“It frees individuals from the cognitive burdens of active monitoring (Förster et al., 2005) and the negative feeling that they are not living up to their own standards (Higgins, 1987).”

“According to the self-discrepancy theory, self-discrepancies between the actual self-state and the ideal self-state could result in rejection-related emotions, such as dissatisfaction (Higgins, 1987).”

“This behavior could be explained by well-established psychological theory such as strategic self-presentation (Jones and Pittman 1982) or self-discrepancy theory (Higgins 1987).”

“” While identity scholars have identi fi ed various forms of professional identities, the most positive and aspirational among them is the ideal self (Higgins, 1987; Markus & Nurius, 1986).”

“Meanwhile, according to the self-discrepancy theory, the gap between the ideal and the actual self has a negative impact on students ’ emotions and behaviors (Higgins, 1987).”

“Higgins ’ s (1987, 1989) self-discrepancy theory has informed research concerning eating and the body (e.g., Heron & Smyth, 2013; Mason et al., 2016).”

“According to Higgins’ self-discrepancy theory [7], a significant misalignment between one’s actual self and ideal or ought selves leads to emotional distress.”

“In 1987, Higgins [9] introduced the idea that two separate types of self-discrepancies are connected to distinct emotional experiences.”

“These possible selves contain tangible images and senses about the future and are related to fears (feared self ), ideals (ideal self ), and duties (ought self ) (Higgins, 1987; Markus & Nurius, 1986).”

“To address these gaps, this study explores the interactions between international students’ motivations and their expectations to change through the psychological lens of future self-guides (D € ornyei 2005, 2009, 2019; Higgins 1987; Oyserman and Markus 1990).”

“Higgins (1987) sees suffering as a threat to or damage to the integrity of the self and that it arises from the inability to express the self as one would like to due to lack of ability.”

“People report more positive affect when they are meeting or making progress toward their goals or desired end-states (Carver & Scheier, 1990, 1998; Higgins, 1987).”

“From clear, certain, and coherent content of identity, its positive valuation follows, which means small discrepancies between actual self, ideal self, and ought self (Higgins, 1987, 1996).”

“The reason for this may be that emotions are internal motivators that stimulate learners to engage in learning, but the ought-to L2 self-created by L2 learners is an image of what should be in order to circumvent passive consequences or to achieve the aspirations of other individuals or groups and is more related to e…”

“The social environment and peer-to-peer contacts play an especially important role in the evolution of young people’s self-esteem (Gorrese & Ruggieri, 2013; Gruenenfelder-Steiger, Harris & Fend, 2016; Jiang et al., 2015), which consequently makes virtual space (very common nowadays) a “social mirror” in which adolesce…”

“The concept of the ‘expectations gap’ is particularly relevant for party ownership and voting behaviours (Higgins, 1987; Kimball & Patterson, 1997; Waterman et al., 1999).”

“…line of research gives useful insights for future research on L2 motivation, especially because the unconscious processes of language learning are underpinned by several theoretical frameworks in this field, including Higgins (1987) self-discrepancy theory and Markus and Nurius (1986) self-guides.”