Trait Importance and Modifiability as Factors Influencing Self-Assessment and Self-Enhancement Motives

Abstract

People's search for information about the self is governed by motives of self-enhancement (seeking feedback to the extent that it will be favorable) and self-assessment (seeking accurate feed-back regardless of its favorability). Which motive predominates as an ability under consideration becomes more important? An experiment suggested that both motives are evoked, depending on whether people believe the ability reflects a stable or malleable aspect of personality. When an ability was described as stable, subjects displayed a self-enhancing pattern, showing greater enthusiasm for feedback after success than after failure on an initial test for the trait, but only when the ability was deemed important. In contrast, when the ability was described as malleable, subjects followed a self-assessment pattern, being more solicitous of feedback when the trait was described as important as opposed to inconsequential, regardless of initial success or failure.