Self-enhancement and self-protection: what they are and what they do
Self-enhancement and self-protection: what they are and what they do
We define self-enhancement and self-protection as interests that individuals have in advancing one or more self-domains or defending against negative self-views. We review ways in which people pursue self-enhancement and self-protection, discuss the role of these motivational constructs in scientific explanations, argue for their importance in maintaining psychological and physical well-being, and consider the conditions in which they are likely to operate. At various points, we address the perennial “cognition-motivation” debate. We argue that, despite the conceptual and practical difficulties that attend this distinction, the pervasiveness of the self-enhancement and self-protection motives makes it impossible and imprudent to ignore them in explaining self-related findings and theories.
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Alicke, Mark D.
f0e9afd2-1f51-4e6e-80d6-7a88421ac578
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
February 2009
Alicke, Mark D.
f0e9afd2-1f51-4e6e-80d6-7a88421ac578
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Alicke, Mark D. and Sedikides, Constantine
(2009)
Self-enhancement and self-protection: what they are and what they do.
European Review of Social Psychology, 20 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/10463280802613866).
Abstract
We define self-enhancement and self-protection as interests that individuals have in advancing one or more self-domains or defending against negative self-views. We review ways in which people pursue self-enhancement and self-protection, discuss the role of these motivational constructs in scientific explanations, argue for their importance in maintaining psychological and physical well-being, and consider the conditions in which they are likely to operate. At various points, we address the perennial “cognition-motivation” debate. We argue that, despite the conceptual and practical difficulties that attend this distinction, the pervasiveness of the self-enhancement and self-protection motives makes it impossible and imprudent to ignore them in explaining self-related findings and theories.
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Published date: February 2009
Organisations:
Human Wellbeing
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 66032
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/66032
ISSN: 1046-3283
PURE UUID: 08c6f7b0-cbeb-44a7-81ce-35036a80998b
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Date deposited: 22 Apr 2009
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:43
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Author:
Mark D. Alicke
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