To Discover or to Create: Metaphors and the True Self

Schlegel, Rebecca J.; Vess, Matthew; Arndt, Jamie

doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00753.x

Cited by 51 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This suggests that self-discovery metaphors relate to well-being, even when they are applied to close others. This provides some indication (consistent with Schlegel et al, 2012) that self-discovery beliefs are a marker of (or can help foster) positive psychological functioning.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Previous work on self-discovery metaphors has found that endorsing the idea that true selves are discovered (in general) positively predicts meaning in life judgments (Schlegel et al, 2012). Thus, we conducted exploratory correlation analyses to examine the relationship between discovery beliefs, change evaluation, and three well-being measures (meaning in life, selfesteem, and satisfaction with life).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…We predicted that the perceived positivity of changes in the self and others would positively predict the belief that those changes were examples of self-discoveries. We made our predictions based on the previously described research linking the true self to self-discovery metaphors (Schlegel et al, 2012) and research demonstrating that positive changes in others are viewed as more representative of an authentic self (Newman et al, 2014). Thus, a change for the better should be viewed as more representative of the true self and therefore more consistent with the notion of true self-discovery, and vice versa.…”

Section: Current Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, we hypothesized that the more positively a change is evaluated, the more likely it is to be perceived as a case of self "discovery." The logic of this hypothesis rests on widespread lay beliefs that true selves are discovered (Schlegel, Vess, & Arndt, 2012) and that true selves are "fundamentally good" (Newman, Bloom, & Knobe, 2014). Accordingly, a positive change should be seen as a movement toward the true self and thus be perceived as a self-discovery.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consistent with this idea, Heatherton and Nichols (1994) report that over 70% of people asked to write a story describing a life change mentioned that they gained increased self-knowledge. Discovered aspects of the self are typically thought of as the constituents of a person's true self Schlegel et al, 2012), something that most people believe to be a relatively immutable set of characteristics (Johnson, Robinson, & Mitchell, 2004) that are important to defining who someone really is (Harter & Monsour, 1992).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Thinking about Change in the Self and Others: The Role of Self-Discovery Metaphors and the True Self

Bench¹,

Schlegel²,

Davis³

et al. 2015

Social Cognition

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People change over the course of their lives, yet little is known about how people think about these changes. We expected that evaluative judgments of changes would relate to the type of metaphors people use to describe those changes. Specifically, we predicted that the more positively a change is evaluated, the more likely it is to be perceived as a self "discovery" (i.e., a change driven by discovering something within the self). Study 1 established a correlational relationship between perceived positivity and self-discovery in changes in both the self and a close other. Study 2 manipulated the valance of the change and found that positive changes were more likely to be endorsed as self-discoveries than negative changes. These findings highlight the importance of self-discovery metaphors in understanding how people make sense of changes in the self and close others. Implications for meaning making, well-being, and narrative research are discussed.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Current Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Thinking about Change in the Self and Others: The Role of Self-Discovery Metaphors and the True Self

Bench¹,

Schlegel²,

Davis³

et al. 2015

Social Cognition

Self Cite

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When being far away is good: Exploring how mortality salience, regulatory mode, and goal progress affect judgments of meaning in life

Vess

Rogers

Routledge

et al. 2016

Euro J Social Psych

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Research indicates that death‐relevant thoughts (mortality salience) have a nuanced effect on judgments of life's meaningfulness. Thoughts of death diminish meaning in life only among people who lack or do not readily engage psychological structures that confer meaning. Building on this past research, the current research examined how an important source of meaning, long‐term goal progress, affects the ways that death‐relevant cognitions impact judgments of life's meaning. In Study 1 (N = 118), mortality salience decreased perceptions of meaning in life only among participants who were induced to feel closer to (vs. farther from) completing a long‐term goal. Study 2 (N = 259) extended these findings by demonstrating the moderating influence of individual differences in locomotion. Mortality salience again decreased perceptions of meaning in life among participants who felt closer to accomplishing a long‐term goal, but it only did so among people who do not quickly adopt new goals to pursue (i.e., those low in locomotion). The implications of these findings for better understanding how people maintain meaning in the face of existential concerns and how aspects of goal pursuit affect these processes are discussed.

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Self‐connection and well‐being: Development and validation of a self‐connection scale

Klussman

Nichols

Curtin

et al. 2022

Euro J Social Psych

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Self-connection is defined as an (1) awareness of oneself, (2) acceptance of oneself based on this awareness, and (3) alignment of one's behavior with this awareness.Although some promising results suggest that self-connection uniquely contributes to well-being, they have relied on an untested, single-item measure. To advance empirical examination of self-connection and its role in well-being, the current research developed and validated a 12-item Self-Connection Scale (SCS). We recruited a total of 1,469 participants across three studies to examine the SCS and its three underlying components. Using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, we found evidence supporting the factor structure and inter-item reliability as well as evidence of construct, concurrent, and incremental validity. Importantly, results from three studies suggest that the SCS is associated with multiple important indicators of health and well-being. The scale also demonstrated incremental validity beyond mindfulness, authenticity, self-concept clarity, self-compassion, and self-acceptance in its association with various mental health and well-being indicators. Thus, the SCS provides a valuable tool to measure and examine self-connection and its relationship to well-being and other important psychological outcomes.

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To Discover or to Create: Metaphors and the True Self

Cited by 51 publications

References 33 publications

Thinking about Change in the Self and Others: The Role of Self-Discovery Metaphors and the True Self

Thinking about Change in the Self and Others: The Role of Self-Discovery Metaphors and the True Self

When being far away is good: Exploring how mortality salience, regulatory mode, and goal progress affect judgments of meaning in life

Self‐connection and well‐being: Development and validation of a self‐connection scale

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