Self-Concept, Self-Sentiment, and Motivation

Abstract

Following a brief discussion of the distinction between cognitive and affective dimensions of self, Chapter 2 provides extensive discussions of self-concept, self-sentiment, and motivation drawing from critical sources dealing with these concepts. This sets the stage for introducing the affect control theory of self (ACT-Self) (MacKinnon and Heise 2010), a cybernetic model of the self-process, according to which people maintain a sense of authenticity of self by optimizing consistency between established and situational self-sentiments. The theory proposes that this dynamic self-process operates within a three-dimensional space of self-sentiment consisting of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-activation, corresponding to the EPA (evaluation, potency, and activity) dimensions of the semantic differential of Charles Osgood and associates.