Self-Affirmation’s Effect on Personal Development

Abstract

Every day individuals are faced with threats, ranging in severity, that challenge one’s self-adequacy. While stress and self-protective defensives are aroused, the practice of self affirmation allows an individual to assess the asperity of the situation and find confidence in one’s abilities by confirming their self-adequacy. Self-affirmation is beneficial while confronting psychological threats in the disciplines of education, health, and personal well-being. However, the individuals most significantly benefitting from this practice belong to the most threatened domains—minorities, the chronically ill, and the low esteemed. While self-affirmation is said to broaden the perspective of individuals with high self-esteem or self-worth, further research is necessary to determine if self-affirmation practices generally apply to society, not just the struggling subgroups.