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MENTAL MODEL · M11755

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model
BehaviorHigh supportSocial Psychology
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Updated 2026-08-13

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

The self-evaluation maintenance model, proposed by Tesser, describes how people cope with the success of those close to them. When the other excels in a domain the individual cares about, self-evaluation is threatened and the response is jealousy, distancing, or devaluing the domain; when the success lies in an irrelevant domain, the individual can bask in reflected glory. The key conditions are the importance of the domain to the self and the closeness of the relationship, which together determine which reaction appears.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Jealousy diagnosis: treat a friend's success that stings as a signal of a core self-definition. - Domain weighting: decide whether the contested domain must remain central or can be reweighted. - Distance or growth: choose between restructuring the relationship and converting the threat into competition.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Self-evaluation is maintained by comparison against relevant others, so a close peer's excellence in a central domain destabilizes it while an irrelevant one leaves it intact; closeness matters because a distant peer is no comparison anchor at all. Two responses restore balance: reflection, which shares the glory, and comparison, which drives the person away from the very relationship that made the success threatening.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-evaluation_maintenance_theoryZH · Explicit
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