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Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects

Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects

Self-discrepancy theory explains how people compare their actual self to their ideal and ought selves and how mismatches between these self-guides can lead to emotional distress. Developed by E. Tory Higgins, the theory distinguishes among three components of self-concept: the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self. These refer respectively to how individuals perceive themselves, how they aspire to be, and how they believe they are obligated to be. Emotional well-being, self-esteem,...

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Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...

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Self-Discrepancy Theory

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One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 16, 2025

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Published on: February 11, 2017

Does Self-Reassurance Reduce Neural and Self-Report Reactivity to Negative Life Events?

Jeffrey J Kim^1,2,3, James R Doty^1,4, Ross Cunnington¹

¹Compassionate Mind Research Group, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Frontiers in Psychology

|October 15, 2021

Summary

Self-reassurance, a compassionate cognitive style, can regulate negative emotions. This study found that self-reassurance down-regulated neural and self-report markers of negative emotion compared to self-criticism.

Keywords:

compassion emotion fMRI reassurance self-criticism

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychology
Cognitive Science

Background:

Self-criticism is linked to increased negative emotions.
The emotion-regulating potential of self-reassurance is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how self-reassurance affects negative emotion regulation.
To compare the neural and self-report markers of self-reassurance versus self-criticism.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used.
Participants engaged in self-criticism and self-reassurance toward negative life events.

Main Results:

Self-reassurance significantly down-regulated neural markers of negative emotion.
Self-reassurance also reduced self-report markers of trial intensity compared to self-criticism.

Conclusions:

Self-reassurance effectively mitigates the impact of negative life events.
Findings suggest self-reassurance has significant therapeutic implications for emotional regulation.