User:Emotionalcomm

Self-Discrepancy Theory, developed by Edward Tory Higgins in 1987, provides a platform for understanding how different types of discrepancies between representations of the self are related to different kinds of emotional vulnerabilities. Self Discrepancy Theory maintains close ties to this long standing tradition of belief-incongruity research. Higgins sought to illustrate internal disagreement cause emotional and psychological turmoil. Before, many theories such as Self-Inconsistency Theory , Cognitive Dissonance Theory , and Imbalance Theory (e.g., Heider, 1958), had done just that; however, Higgins aspired to predict what distinct emotions the cognitive imbalances would arouse. Previous self-imbalance theories had recognized only positive or negative emotions associated with the belief inconsistency. Discrepancy theory was the first to improve on these limitations and assign specific emotions and affects to the disparity

Overview

There are various combinations of the self which are based on two standpoints of the self. Those standpoints are “own” and “other” and they combine with the three domains of the self to form six basic types of self state representations. The six representations are actual/own, actual/other, ideal/own, ideal/other, ought/own, and ought other. It is important to note that any of these can be discrepant with another. For instance, it is possible for the actual self to be discrepant with the ideal self. In all actuality this discrepancy occurs more often than not. The actual –ideal discrepancy was found to be negatively related to self-esteem. Self-esteem is known as a person’s appraisal of his or her value and is associated more strongly to perceptions of others’ evaluations of oneself than to actual abilities and positive or negative qualities one possesses. Self-esteem is topic of daily discussion and adolescent girls and young women seem to be one of the main age groups of focus. An example of this would be the Dove Self-esteem campaign and corresponding commercials which were launched in 2004. Women in middle to late adulthood stages are also targets of self-esteem discussion. SDT helps to define the many aspects of self esteem both positive and negative and allows for better understanding of the many different driving forces in self-perception.

Author

E.T. Higgins. obtained a PhD from Columbia University in 1973, where he has began as professor psychology and professor of management in the Columbia Business School. In 1980 he was hired by New York University where he was given the mandate to help build the social/personality psychology department. There he developed one of the leading social cognition departments of that era. His most notable contribution to the social sciences has been the development of Self Discrepancy Theory throughout his work in social cognition as well as the self and identity. Other research interests include culture/ Ethnicity, emotion, judgment/decision making, motivation/goal setting, person perception, personality, persuasion/social influence, self identity, and social cognition.

Domains of the Self

The theory postulates three basic domains of the self:

Actual

Actual self is your representation of the attributes that someone (yourself or another) believes you actually possess.

Ideal

Ideal self is your representation of the attributes that someone (yourself or another) would like you, ideally, to possess (i.e., a representation of someone's hopes, aspirations, or wishes for you).

Ought

Ought is your representation of the attributes that someone (yourself or another) believes you, should or ought to possess (i.e., a representation of someone's sense of your duty, obligations, or responsibilities).

Ideal self and Ought self act as self guides in which the actual self aspires to be aligned and be in harmony with the self guides.

Standpoints

The theory also suggests that there are two different standpoints, vantage points, in which the self is perceived. A standpoint on the self is defined as a point of view from which you can be judged that reflects a set of attitudes or values

Own

Your own personal standpoint

Other

The standpoint of some significant other. Significant others may comprise of parents, siblings, spouses, and or friends.

These two constructs provides the basis from which discrepancies arise; that is, when certain domains of the Self are at odds with one another, people experience particular emotional affect. (ex: your beliefs concerning the attributes you would personally like ideally to possess versus your beliefs concerning the attributes that some significant other person, such as your mother, would like you ideally to possess).

Discrepancies

Discrepancies create two types of negative physiological situations such as: absence of positive outcomes which is associated with dejection related emotions, and the presence of negative outcomes which is associated with agitation-related emotions.

	Actual	Ideal	Ought
Own	Self-Concept	Self-Guide	Self-Guide
Other	Self-Concept	Self-Guide	Self-Guide

Self/Other

Actual vs. Ideal

The absence of positive outcomes and dejection related emotions can lead to a loss of self esteem and then emotions such as shame and embarrassment

Actual vs. Ought

Produces the presence of negative outcomes which are agitation related emotions and can include: fear, anxiety, and resentment.

Self/Self

Actual vs. Ideal

A discrepancy between self concept and self guide can produce dejection related emotions such as disappointment and dissatisfaction as a result of an absence of positive outcomes.

Actual vs. Ought

presence of negative outcomes and agitation-related emotions such as self-dissatisfaction which can lead to guilt, self-contempt, and feelings of worthlessness or weakness.

Application and Use of the Theory

SDT can be applied to the real world in many ways. The many different ways SDT can be applied to the real world depends on which self perspective one takes. For instance the ideal self which represents the aspect of the self that people would like to be, is common among young girls who read fashion magazines. These magazines feature women who are incredibly thin, have perfectly straight white teeth, perfect makeup, beautiful hairstyles, and top of the line clothing. This image is embedded in young girls’ cognitive impressions as beauty and this becomes their ideal selves. The actual self which is who a person really is, can be viewed in the real world as well. For example a mass email is sent out at one’s place of employment telling members of that department that they have been laid off. The effected members of the department will most likely display their actual self. The element of surprise brings forth who those people really are because they don’t have time to consider putting on a “face”. The face would represent one’s ought self which is how one ought to or should respond or be and even one’s ideal self which in this case would be how the effected members would have liked to respond. Finally the ought self can be viewed in the real world also. Children are given sets of classroom rules on the first day of school and they are usually placed on a wall somewhere within the classroom. These rules establish how children ought to behave. Regardless of the fact that those children may or may not have to follow those same rules at home, when they behave in the manner that the rules suggest they are displaying their ought self.Self-Discrepancy Theory becomes applicable when addressing some of the psychological problems individuals face with undesired self image. The theory has been applied to psychological problems faced by college students compromising their career choice, understanding clinically depressed students, mental health and depression in chronologically ill woman and even developing self confidence in athletes. Self-Discrepancy Theory inherently provides a means to systematically lessen negative affect associated with self-discrepancies by reducing the discrepancies between the self domains in conflict of one another. Not only has it been applied to psychological health, but also to other research and understanding to human emotions such as shame and guilt . The self guided pressure society and ourselves induce throw an individual into turmoil. The theory finds many of it uses geared toward mental health, anxiety, and depression. Understanding what emotions are being aroused and the reasoning is important to reinstate psychological health.

Another Domain of Self

In 1999 Charles Carver and associates made a new amendment to the theory by adding the domain of feared self. The amendment postulates that there is a domain of the feared self in which the self evades. Unlike the self guides proposed by Higgins, feared self steer clear of becoming. In many cases this many have more influence on the self than guides. It is human nature to avoid negative affect before approaching positives. Characteristics such as an adulterer, liar, or sinner we will apply effort to avoid.