Self-Guide Strength and Emotional Vulnerability: Birth Order as a Moderator of Self-Affect Relations

Abstract

This study tested hypotheses derived from developmental extensions of Higgins's self-discrepancy theory. Discrepancies between one's actual self and ideal-other self (a self-guide consisting of attributes someone would ideally like the individual to possess) cause dejection, whereas discrepancies with the ought-other self (beliefs about attributes someone thinks one ought to ham) cause agitation. Self-guides also differ in strength (the accessibility of, coherence of, and commitment to a self-guide). Consideration of the features of parent-child interaction hypothesized to increase self-guide strength led to the prediction that first-borns would have strong "other"-standpoint self-guides and that their discrepancies would be more highly correlated with emotional distress than those of later-borns. It was also predicted that first-borns would have fewer such self-discrepancies. Both predictions were supported. Many birth-order findings are consistent with these results.