The aboutness principle: a pervasive influence on human inference

Article Abstract:

The inferential principle of aboutness explains the tendency of individuals to share a set of natural assumptions about psychological processes. It assumes that people interpret a response or outcome as being about something, and that this something is inferred as the source of the response. The aboutness principle becomes pervasive and problematic when one considers the possibility that the inferred source may be only one of multiple sources of the response and not the major source. Furthermore, the inferred source may not even be a source at all.

author: Higgins, E. Tory
Psychological aspects, Beliefs, opinions and attitudes, Cognition, Inference

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Internal representations of others in self-regulation: a new look at a classic issue

Article Abstract:

The self-discrepancy theory is used in studying the self-regulatory implications of significant-other representations within the self-system. The former describes the structure of self-representation and discrepancy between self-guides. Results indicate that parental guides have a significant role in self-regulation when the guides are assumed to belong to a person. Discrepancy between the actual self and perceived shared or identified guides is an indication of high levels of psychological distress and interpersonal sensitivity.

author: Higgins, E. Tory, Moretti, Marlene M.
Interpersonal relations, Mental representation, Mental representations

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Self and health: how "patterns" of self-beliefs predict types of emotional and physical problems

Article Abstract:

The self-discrepancy theory states that patterns of relations among different types of self-beliefs play a significant impact on physical and mental health. Previous studies on self-discrepancy revealed that different pairs of self-beliefs predicted different types of emotional and health-related problems. An experiment among several college students seeks to confirm the theory that patterns arising from interrelations of three different types of self-beliefs bring about corresponding physical and emotional changes.

author: Higgins, E. Tory, Vookles, Jennifer, Tykocinski, Orit
Health aspects, Self-perception, Self realization, Expectations, Self-efficacy (Psychology), Self efficacy, Self-actualization (Psychology), Expectation (Philosophy), Self perception

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subjects list: Social perception, Research
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