Definition
The motivation to defend oneself against negative self-views
Introduction
The self-protection motive is the motivation to defend oneself against negative self-views (for a review, see Alicke and Sedikides 2009). It is a form of self-evaluation motive that is related to avoidance motivation (i.e., the desire to avoid undesirable outcomes; see entry on “Avoidance Motivation”; Elliot and Mapes 2005). The self-protection motive is aimed at avoiding negativity in one’s self-views, as opposed to the self-enhancement motive, which aims at promoting positivity in one’s self-views (see entry on the “Self-Enhancement Motive”). People often engage in self-protective mechanisms to avoid falling below their subjective standards in a host of domains (e.g., moral conduct, academic standing, athletic ability). The self-protection motive is believed to be driven by the overarching desire to protect and maintain self-esteem and is activated when an event threatens one’s positive self-views....
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References
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Giacomin, M., Jordan, C.H. (2017). Self-Protective Motives. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1177-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1177-1
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