Overcoming a Lack of Self-Assurance in an Achievement Domain

Abstract

present [an] analysis of how people deal with self-doubt in an academic domain and the implications that one such strategy has for creating agency in everyday life / present a study that focuses on people who are highly influenced by academic outcomes and who believe that positive outcomes are difficult to achieve [Ss were female college students] / these individuals strategically seek reassurance from others in otherwise social situations, promoting perseverance in their pursuit of academic achievements [referred to as outcome focused] / costs associated with the use of this strategy are discussed /// construct of "ego involvement" is given considerable attention / discuss some implications that [the authors] goal-oriented approach to personality has for our understanding of self-esteem processes / one such implication is that self-esteem research and theory would benefit from using a more contextualized approach that incorporates people's everyday experiences across time, contexts, and tasks (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)