Introduction
The term “self-discrepancies” refers to the presence of incompatible or conflicting beliefs about one’s self, with negative consequences on the person’s well-being. Self-discrepancy theory (Higgins 1989) describes how individuals are likely to experience discomfort when they are holding conflicting or incompatible beliefs about themselves. Moreover, the type of discrepant self-representations explains the kind of discomfort or unpleasant feelings.
Self-Discrepancy Theory
There was no doubt that a person’s concept of itself is a primary source of emotional-motivational difficulties. Still, it is unclear why some people suffer from dejection-related problems (e.g., sadness or disappointment), while others are predisposed to agitation-related problems (e.g., fear or restlessness). The self-discrepancy theory addressed the individual differences problem, by creating a general framework useful to predict...
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Maroiu, C., Maricutoiu, L.P. (2017). Self-Discrepancies. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1503-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1503-1
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