Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory

Explanations > Theories > Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory

Description | Example | So What? | See also | References 

Description

Our self-concept can be threatened by how other people behave. The level of threat to us depends both on how close the threatening person is to us and also how personally relevant the behavior is.

You have several choices when a friend says something that you find particularly uncomfortable:

• You can distance yourself from them.
• You can reduce the relevance of their behavior to you.
• You can try and improve yourself, reducing the level of threat.

Example

I pride myself as being an expert on racehorses. I am discussing racing in a group of friends and one friend turns out to be the daughter of a famous trainer and shows an even deeper understanding than me. I now have to figure out how to react to her.

So what?

Using it

Watch how the other person reacts to what you and others say to them. Build an understanding of their self-concept and their reactions to threats to it. Then ensure what you say leads to them getting closer to you. 

Defending

Know yourself. Or at least get better at knowing yourself. Notice how you react to others who threaten your self-concept.  

See also

Cognitive Dissonance, Expectancy Violations Theory

References

Tesser (1988), Tesser, Martin and Mendolia (1995)

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