When our identities are mistaken: Reaffirming self-conceptions through social interaction.

Abstract

Although those who have labored to change self-concepts in naturally occurring situations (jave often experienced difficulty, laboratory investigators have reported considerable success in this endeavor. This research sought to reconcile these contradictory findings by examining how people respond behaviorally and psychologically when they receive feedback that disconfirms their self-conceptions. The results showed that self-discrepant feedback produced changes in selfratings only when recipients had no opportunity to reject and refute it. If participants had opportunity to behaviorally discredit discrepant feedback, they did so and subsequently displayed minimal self-rating change. The discussion proposes some important differences between transitory fluctuations and enduring changes in self-ratings and suggests some conditions that must be met before lasting self-concept changes will occur. Are peoples' conceptions of themselves stable and enduring or do they shift markedly over time? Depending on who one asks, one will obtain very different answers to this question. Just as some insist that self-conceptions are highly enduring and stable over time, others contend that self-conceptions are remarkably plastic and flexible. These competing viewpoints represent two distinct assumptions concerning the nature of selfknowledge: the assumption of stability and the assumption of plasticity. The Assumption of Stability Some suggest that trying to change people's conceptions of themselves is rather like fighting windmills. Clinicians, for example, The research and preparation of this manuscript were supported by grants from the University Research Institute of the University of Texas to William B. Swann, Jr. We are especially grateful to Daniel Wegner for his constructive commentary throughout the research and to Linda Nyquist for her assistance during the experiment itself. We also thank Richard Archer for commenting on the manuscript and

Putting gender into context: An interactive model of gender-related behavior.

“…Thus in studies by Major et al (1986) and Swann and Ely (1984), targets showed little evidence of behavioral confirmation or self-rating change after interacting with a perceiver who held a self-discrepant expectancy. In addition, targets were less likely to alter their selfconceptions after receiving self-discrepant feedback when they were given an opportunity to refute self-discrepant feedback (Swann & Hill, 1982), when they were supported in their selfconceptions by intimates who view them as they view themselves (Swann & Predmore, 1985), and when they were low rather than high in public self-consciousness ). Markus and Kunda (1986) have suggested that very general self-descriptive measures such as those used in the aforementioned studies are insufficient for revealing how a person adjusts and calibrates his or her self-concept in response to the social environment.…”

“…Furthermore, several studies suggest that targets may work especially hard to disconfirm a perceiver's expectancy when they are aware that it is self-discrepant (Swann & Hill, 1982;Swann & Read, 1981b). Simple awareness of the perceiver's expectancy may also be a critical factor in the confirmation process.…”

Four reference models for transparency requirements in information systems

“…Furthermore, if the provided information fails to change the already confirmed perception of an information receiver about the information provider, transparency may still not be achieved. Changing people's perception is not an easy task, and it needs continuous exposure to structured information which utilises their information processing methods [41] and it also requires constant social interactions with the people [71]. Since perception is subjective, different information receivers perceive the same information in different ways, and they respond to information according to their own perception [70].…”

Meaning Making, Uncertainty Reduction, and Autobiographical Memory: A Replication and Reinterpretation of the TALE Questionnaire

“…Koole et al, 2006: p. 214). For example, even people with low self-esteem will avoid positive feedback because it is a threat to their self-concept; those with high self-esteem, however, will welcome positive feedback and react strongly against unfavorable feedback; thus, both groups act in a way that confirms and stabilizes their self-concept (Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996;Swann & Hill, 1982). In sum, since self-esteem may be considered a central aspect of one's identity, and personal identity is a major existential concern, then it is logical to consider selfesteem as part of the self function.…”