Self-assessment

In social psychology, self-assessment is the process of looking at oneself in order to assess aspects that are important to one's identity. It is one of the motives that drive self-evaluation, along with self-verification and self-enhancement. Sedikides (1993) suggests that the self-assessment motive will prompt people to seek information to confirm their uncertain self-concept rather than their certain self-concept and at the same time people use self-assessment to enhance their certainty of their own self-knowledge.[1][2] However, the self-assessment motive could be seen as quite different from the other two self-evaluation motives. Unlike the other two motives, through self-assessment people are interested in the accuracy of their current self view, rather than improving their self-view. This makes self-assessment the only self-evaluative motive that may cause a person's self-esteem to be damaged.

  1. ^ Sedikides, Constantine (August 1993). "Assessment, enhancement, and verification determinants of the self-evaluation process". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 65 (2): 317–338. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.317. ISSN 1939-1315. S2CID 41235384.
  2. ^ Sedikides, C., & Strube, M.J. (1997)., Self-evaluation: To thine own self be good, to thine own self be sure, to thine own self be true, and to thine own self be better. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 29, 209-269.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)