Do People Embrace Praise Even When They Feel Unworthy? A Review of Critical Tests of Self-Enhancement Versus Self-Verification
Abstract
Some contemporary theorists contend that the desire for self-enhancement is prepotent and more powerful than rival motives such as self-verification. If so, then even people with negative self-views will embrace positive evaluations. The authors tested this proposition by conducting a meta-analytic review of the relevant literature. The data provided ample evidence of self-enhancement strivings but little evidence of its prepotency. Instead, the evidence suggested that both motives are influential but control different response classes. In addition, other motives may sometimes come into play. For example, when rejection risk is high, people seem to abandon self-verification strivings, apparently in an effort to gratify their desire for communion. However, when rejection risk is low, as is the case in many secure marital relationships, people prefer self-verifying evaluations. The authors conclude that future researchers should broaden the bandwidth of their explanatory frameworks to include motives other than self-enhancement.
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Human beings possess a motivation to self-verify, that is, to seek out and accept input from others that confirms their already formed view of self.
“Human beings possess a motivation to self-verify -that is, to seek out and accept input from others that confirms their already formed view of self (Kwang & Swann, 2010).”
From Self and identity in personality psychology (2021) · cites this paper as Kwang & Swann, 2010
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- Authors
- Kwang, T., & Swann, W. B.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Corresponding author
- Swann, William B.
- ORCID
- Swann, William B.
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-04-30
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 263-280
- ISSN
- 1088-8683 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7957
- OpenAlex
- W2117142350
- Cited by
- 323
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 2.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- self-enhancement, self-verification, self-worth, rejection risk, marital relationships, interpersonal evaluation, self-concept
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Humans, Individuality, Interpersonal Relations, Motivation, Reinforcement, Psychology, Rejection, Psychology, Self Concept, Feedback, Psychological
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