Self-Verification Theory

Swann, Julie; William, B

doi:10.4135/9781446249222.n27

Cited by 398 publications

(364 citation statements)

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“…In a survey of married couples, Weger (2005) found that feeling understood by one's partner predicted less engagement in the destructive demand-withdrawal pattern during conflict, and self-verifying feedback is one way to feel understood (Swann, 2012). Similarly, Cohen, Schulz, Weiss, and Waldinger (2012) found that those who perceived their partners as understanding their emotions during a lab-based conflict discussion reported greater overall relationship satisfaction.…”

Section: Relational Conflict and Verification/enhancement Processesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…In a survey of married couples, Swann and colleagues (1994) found that individuals whose spouses verified their own self-views reported greater intimacy than those with spouses who held incongruent views, regardless of the positivity of those self-views. Self-verification theory acknowledges that both self-enhancement and self-verification motives exist and can be in conflict with one another (Swann, 2012;Swann, Griffin, Predmore, & Gaines, 1987). However, in a meta-analysis of the self-verification and enhancement literature, Kwang and Swann (2010) concluded that in secure marital relationships, self-verifying feedback is generally preferred to self-enhancing feedback.…”

Section: Self-verification Versus Positive Illusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Self-verification theory assumes that people want to maintain a coherent image of themselves and feel better when they receive information consistent with their own expectations (Swann, 2012;Swann & Hill, 1982). Individuals are likely to seek out interpersonal relationships in which their self-views will be confirmed (Swann, 2012;Swann, Pelham, & Krull, 1989), and they are more satisfied in marriages in which these views are confirmed (Schafer, Wickrama, & Keith, 1996;Swann et al, 1994).…”

Section: Self-verification Versus Positive Illusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individuals are likely to seek out interpersonal relationships in which their self-views will be confirmed (Swann, 2012;Swann, Pelham, & Krull, 1989), and they are more satisfied in marriages in which these views are confirmed (Schafer, Wickrama, & Keith, 1996;Swann et al, 1994). In addition, as couples become increasingly interdependent, pursuing important personal and couple-level goals, they may come to look to their partners to better understand their own behavior and they must be able to accurately identify each other's strengths and weaknesses in order to succeed in these mutual goals (Swann et al, 1994).…”

Section: Self-verification Versus Positive Illusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Partner enhancement versus verification and emotional responses to daily conflict

Seidman

Burke

2014

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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This study investigated the moderating role of partner enhancement and verification on couples' emotional responses to daily conflicts. Each evening for 5 weeks, 264 couples in which one partner was under stress reported whether a conflict occurred and both positive and negative relationship feelings. Partners rated each other on relationshipcentral and relationship-peripheral traits before the diary period, allowing us to examine the consequences of derogation (partner views more negative than self-views) and enhancement (partner views more positive than self-views) relative to verification. Derogation on both relationship-central and relationship-peripheral traits was associated with more negative conflict responses. Enhancement on relationship-peripheral traits was associated with more negative conflict responses than verification. Although not as consistent a pattern, results suggest that enhancement on relationship-central traits was beneficial.

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Section: Relational Conflict and Verification/enhancement Processesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Self-verification Versus Positive Illusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Self-verification Versus Positive Illusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Self-verification Versus Positive Illusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Partner enhancement versus verification and emotional responses to daily conflict

Seidman

Burke

2014

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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“…Children who feel deeply disliked by others, for example, might have trouble believing that peers value and accept them unconditionally. 42 If so, reflecting on unconditional regard might feel threatening to them. 43 Future research should examine this possibility to explore boundary conditions of the intervention' s effectiveness.…”

Section: Strengths Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unconditional Regard Buffers Children’s Negative Self-Feelings

et al. 2014

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BACKGROUND: Unconditional regard refers to the feeling that one is accepted and valued by others without conditions. Psychological theory suggests that experiences of unconditional regard lead children to feel that they are valuable despite setbacks. We hypothesized that reflecting on experiences of unconditional regard would buffer children’s negative self-feelings (eg, shame, insecurity, powerlessness) in the face of setbacks. To test this hypothesis, we randomized children to reflect on experiences of unconditional regard or other experiences, and examined their response to an academic setback 3 weeks later. METHODS: Participants (11–15 years old) were randomly assigned to reflect for 15 minutes on experiences of unconditional regard (n = 91), conditional regard (n = 80), or other social experiences (n = 76). Research personnel, teachers, and classmates remained blind to condition assignment. Three weeks later, after receiving their course grades, children reported their self-feelings. Course grades were obtained from school records. Receiving low course grades represents a salient and painful real-world setback for children. RESULTS: Replicating previous research, children who received lower grades experienced more negative self-feelings (P < .001). As predicted, this well-established relationship was significantly attenuated among children who had reflected, 3 weeks previously, on experiences of unconditional regard (Ps < .03). Reflecting on unconditional regard specifically reduced negative self-feelings after low grades (P = .01), not after average or high grades (Ps > .17). CONCLUSIONS: Reflecting on unconditional regard buffered children’s selves against the adverse impact of an academic setback over an extended period of time. Unconditional regard may thus be an important psychological lever to reduce negative self-feelings in youth.

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Rehearsal partially mediates the negative relations of the fading affect bias with depression, anxiety, and stress

Gibbons

Lee

2019

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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The fading affect bias (FAB) is defined by unpleasant affect fading faster than pleasant affect. The FAB persists across several cultures and event types, and it is positively related to healthy outcomes and negatively related to unhealthy outcomes.Although the notion of the FAB as a healthy process fits well with contemporary theoretical perspectives, such as self-enhancement theory, few studies have (a) examined and established reliable relations between the FAB and psychological distress variables and (b) established overall rehearsal as a mediator of these relations. We examined and found reliable, negative relations between psychological distress and the FAB for combined data from several studies examining different event types.We also examined and showed that overall rehearsal partially mediated these relations. These findings help legitimize the relation of psychological distress and FAB as a reliable scientific phenomenon, show that the FAB results from cognitive mechanisms, and support therapeutic emotional memory reinterpretation.

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Self-Verification Theory

Cited by 398 publications

References 0 publications

Partner enhancement versus verification and emotional responses to daily conflict

Partner enhancement versus verification and emotional responses to daily conflict

Unconditional Regard Buffers Children’s Negative Self-Feelings

Rehearsal partially mediates the negative relations of the fading affect bias with depression, anxiety, and stress

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