Self-affirmation

Self-affirmation is a psychological strategy in which individuals reflect on their values, beliefs, and behaviors to maintain their self-integrity. It is a self-regulation strategy that can help individuals cope with threats or stressors to their self-concept.

Overview

Self-affirmation theory posits that people are motivated to maintain a positive self-view and that threats to perceived self-competence are met with resistance. When threatened, individuals can restore self-worth by affirming another aspect of the self. This theory suggests that any affirmation of the self can help individuals cope with threats or stressors.

Mechanism

The mechanism of self-affirmation is believed to involve cognitive and emotional processes. It is thought to reduce defensive responses and increase openness to threatening information. It can also improve problem-solving under stress, reduce physiological stress responses, and increase social behavior.

Applications

Self-affirmation has been applied in various fields such as health psychology, social psychology, and educational psychology. It has been used to improve health behavior, reduce defensiveness to health-risk information, and improve academic performance among minority students.

Health Psychology

In health psychology, self-affirmation has been used to promote health behavior change. It has been found to increase receptivity to health-risk information and promote healthier behavior. For example, self-affirmation has been used to increase physical activity, reduce alcohol consumption, and promote healthier eating.

Social Psychology

In social psychology, self-affirmation has been used to reduce defensiveness to threatening information. It has been found to reduce defensive responses to threats to the self, increase openness to threatening information, and improve interpersonal relationships.

Educational Psychology

In educational psychology, self-affirmation has been used to improve academic performance among minority students. It has been found to reduce the racial achievement gap and improve academic performance among students who are at risk of stereotype threat.

See Also

• Self-esteem
• Self-efficacy
• Cognitive dissonance
• Stress management