Reality Negotiations: Motivated Strategies Underlying Judgments of Oneself and Other People

Abstract

In 1983, my colleagues I published a book called Excuses: Masquerades in Search of Grace (Snyder, Higgins, & Stucky, 1983). In subsequent talks about the workings of excuses, I routinely suggested that we humans are strongly motivated to protect our positive images, in support of this contention, I would describe numerous studies. I came to dread the colloquia at psychology departments, however, because it was apparent that my ideas were swimming upstream of those held by many faculty members. Time again, psychologists in the audiences of these talks would heatedly assert that they had reasons for their transgressions, that they did not make excuses, that they were not motivated to protect their positive images. Chagrined at these responses, I turned for advice to my colleague neighbor, Fritz Heider. Wait, said Fritz, and the data eventually will rule out. Based on the trilogy of target articles in this issue, I believe that Fritz was correct. Some 15 years later, evidence appears to be amassing that we humans indeed are ruled by our motivations that the preservation of positive self-images is one such prime motive. As a potential contribution to this topic, I describe the reality negotiation processes that I have been working on since my earlier excuse theory days.