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Self-evaluation, self-description, and self-standards in subclinical depression

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Abstract

Do subclinically depressed individuals have relatively unfavorableevaluative self-beliefs (SBs; valenced self-judgments), low descriptive SBs (estimates of one's actual standing on attributes or performances using an “objective” scale), and high preferential SBs (self-standards prescribing a desired standing)? To answer this question, subclinically depressed and nondepressed college students rated their evaluative, descriptive, and preferential SBs for academic and social aptitude as well as for expected performance on an upcoming test. Then, they took the test and evaluated their test performance. Subclinically depressed subjects consistently displayed less favorable evaluative SBs (e.g., success expectations) despite having “normal” descriptive (e.g., performance expectations) and preferential (e.g., performance standards) SBs and discrepancies between the two. These findings suggest that depressives' harsh evaluative SBs cannot be attributed to relatively negative descriptive-versus-preferential discrepancies but might be due to their dysphoric moods, which color evaluative (but not descriptive or preferential) self-judgments.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Campus Box 4620, 61790-4620, Normal, Illinois

    Steven J. Morris

  2. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

    Frederick H. Kanfer

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  2. Frederick H. Kanfer
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Portions of this article were presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, November 1993.

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Morris, S.J., Kanfer, F.H. Self-evaluation, self-description, and self-standards in subclinical depression. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 17, 261–282 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02229302

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