On when self-enhancement and self-criticism function adaptively and maladaptively.

Abstract

It would be an understatement of sorts to point out that modern life places excessive demands on the individual. The busyness of the workplace, the necessity or unavoidability of job changes and the accompanying relocation, the ephemerality of friendships, and the expendability of even family relationships contribute to increased nuance and higher plasticity in the interplay between the individual and the social world. The ebb and flow of these demands is bound to exert its toll on a person's emotional fabric, coping resources, and self-concept.How does the individual manage? How can one maintain the clarity and structural integrity of the self-system in an ocean of social change? How does one summon the motivation to set goals and carry them out? We argue Preparation of this chapter was supported by British Academy Grant *LRG-37249 to Constantine Sedikides.

What will I be? The role of temporal perspective in predictions of affect, traits, and self-narratives

“…Hence, as the distant future entails a higher-level construal, its representation is likely to be more schematic and theory-based. Given the prevalent human tendency to construe the self in a favorable light whenever possible (Alicke & Govorun, 2005;Dunning, 2005;Kunda, 1990;Sedikides, 2009;Sedikides & Luke, 2008), individuals will be especially prone to base their construal of distant future selves on their rose-colored theories regarding experiencing positive events and feelings, possessing positive attributes, and continuous improvement over time (Heckhausen & Krueger, 1993;Regan et al, 1995;Sedikides & Hepper, 2009). Thus, the distant future perspective will evoke predictions of more positive (and less negative) affect, more positive (and less negative) traits, and more positive (and less negative) self-narratives, compared to the near future perspective.…”

Evaluating interviews which search for the truth with suspects: but are investigators’ self-assessments of their own skills truthful ones?

“…depression, anxiety, neuroticism) (Dunning, 2005;Marshall & Brown, 2007;Sedikides, Gregg, & Hart, 2008). However, if self-protection becomes entrenched, so may failure to learn and develop from one's range of experiences (Colvin & Griffo, 2007;Sedikides, 1999;Sedikides & Luke, 2007).…”

Self-enhancement and self-protection: What they are and what they do

“…Explicating the relation between self-enhancement and self-protection is complicated by the fact that some psychological theories and phenomena primarily involve one of these motives, some entail both, and in some instances, self-protective efforts further self-enhancement goals (Sedikides & Green, in press;Sedikides & Luke, 2007;Sedikides & Strube, 1997). For example, individuals are relatively open to negative feedback (Kumashiro & Sedikides, 2005) or remember it well (Green, Sedikides, Pinter, & Van Tongeren, in press) when such openness or efficient memory enables future task performance or enable good interpersonal relationships.…”