Antecedents and Consequences of Self-Verification: Implications for Individual and Group Development

Abstract

This article presents an integrative, multilevel model of individual and group development. It extends a model of small group development that holds that self-verification—through self-disclosure and sharing feed-back—produces interpersonal congruence (group members seeing each other as they see themselves), which especially helps groups that are heterogeneous, working on tasks that require judgment, or both. The model presented here proposes that components of self-awareness—self-evaluation, confidence in self-other relationships, and self-development orientation—affect motivation for self-verification, and that leader and peer behavior, group facilitation, and one-on-one coaching and mentoring stimulate self-disclosure and feedback. Self-verification is proposed to encourage individuals and groups to set learning goals and value differences.