THE SEARCH FOR BEAUTY AND TRUTH - A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING REACTIONS TO EVALUATIONS

It is proposed that independent desires for positivity and verisimilit ude shape the sequence of cognitive operations people perform on self- relevant evaluations. In phase 1, the mere identification of evaluativ e information triggers a minimally cognitive tendency to embrace favor able evaluations and eschew unfavorable ones, a positive tropism. If s ufficient motivation and cognitive resources are available, people pro ceed to phase 2, wherein they evaluate the verisimilitude of the evalu ation by comparing it with a series of representations of self, beginn ing with their actual selves. To the extent that actual selves are unc ertain and cognitive resources and motivation to continue processing a re ample, people make additional comparisons with various possible sel ves (e.g., who they ought to be, who they ideally might be, and who th ey are according to ''objectively accurate'' indexes). If sufficient c ognitive resources and motivation are still available, people will eng age in a third phase, consisting of a cost-benefit analysis.