Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. The Dynamics of Self-Evaluation

We conceptualize self-concept as a self-organizing dynamical system and investigate implications ofthisperspectivefor the dynamic andfixed-point attractor tendencies of self-evaluative thought. Participants who differed in self-concept valence (self-esteem) and coherence (self-certainty, self-stability) engaged in verbal self-reflection for sev-eral minutes, then used a computer mouse to track the moment-to-moment self-evalua-tion expressed in their recorded narrative. Prior to self-reflection, participants recalled positive or negative past actions (positive vs. negative priming), or did not recallpast actions (no priming). Priming affected overall self-evaluation (i.e., greatest positivity underpositive priming), but only early in the narrative. The effects ofself-concept, in contrast, became stronger over time. Self esteem affected overall self-evaluation, whereas self-certainty and self-stability affected the dynamic properties (e.g., rate of movement between self-evaluative states) and attractor tendencies ofself-evaluation. Discussion centers on the interplay between structure anddynamics in the self-system. The self is arguably the largest and most accessible structure in the cognitive system. It encompasses virtu