Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Multimodal Protocol for Assessing Metacognition and Self-Regulation in Adults with Learning Difficulties
Published on: September 27, 2020
Defensiveness versus remediation: self-theories and modes of self-esteem maintenance
A David Nussbaum1, Carol S Dweck
1Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. davenuss@psych.stanford.edu
Abstract:
How people maintain and repair their self-esteem has been a topic of widespread interest. In this article, the authors ask, What determines whether people will use direct, remedial actions, or defensive actions? In three studies, they tested the hypothesis that a belief in fixed intelligence (entity theory) would produce defensiveness, whereas a belief in improvable intelligence (incremental theory) would foster remediation. In each study, participants assigned to the entity condition opted for defensive self-esteem repair (downward comparison in Studies 1 and 3; a tutorial on already mastered material in Study 2), but those in the incremental condition opted for self-improvement (upward comparison in Studies 1 and 3; a tutorial on unmastered material in Study 2). Experiment 3 also linked these strategies to self-esteem repair; remedial strategies were the most effective in recovering lost self-esteem for those in the incremental condition, whereas defensive strategies were most effective for those in the entity condition.
Related Concept Videos
Protecting Self-Esteem
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Strategies of Self-Presentation II: Self-Verification
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Need for Self-Esteem
