The DOI matches its Crossref record; 231 of the 231 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Self-Enhancement: Food for Thought
Open accessAbstract
Self-enhancement denotes a class of psychological phenomena that involve taking a tendentiously positive view of oneself. We distinguish between four levels of self-enhancement—an observed effect, an ongoing process, a personality trait, and an underlying motive—and then use these distinctions to organize the wealth of relevant research. Furthermore, to render these distinctions intuitive, we draw an extended analogy between self-enhancement and the phenomenon of eating. Among the topics we address are (a) manifestations of self-enhancement, both obvious and subtle, and rival interpretations; (b) experimentally documented dynamics of affirming and threatening the ego; and (c) primacy of self-enhancement, considered alongside other intrapsychic phenomena, and across different cultures. Self-enhancement, like eating, is a fundamental part of human nature.
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“Self-enhancement theory states that humans desire to view themselves positively (Swann et al. 1989), with selfenhancement attempts occurring either privately or publicly (Sedikides and Gregg 2008).”
From Unintended reward costs: the effectiveness of customer referral reward programs for innovative products and services (2019) · cites this paper as Sedikides and Gregg 2008
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Self‐Compassion, Self‐Esteem, and Well‐Being
Neff, K. D. (2011) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00330.x · Cited by 1,464
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Metadata
- Authors
- Sedikides, C., & Gregg, A. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gregg, Aiden P.
- Venue
- Perspectives on Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2008-03
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 102-116
- ISSN
- 1745-6916 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-6924
- OpenAlex
- W2023041445
- Cited by
- 880
- References
- 228
- Citations by year
- 2026: 43 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 100 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 82 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 42 · 2013: 56 · 2012: 43
- FWCI
- 31.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Perspectives on Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- self-enhancement, self-enhancement motive, ego threat
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