Pressing Obligations or Inspiring Potentials? The Influence of the Ought vs. Expected Selves on Task Performance

This paper focuses on the effects of activating expected self as compared to the effects of activating the ought self. The expected self is a component of self-knowledge that pertains to the perception of one’s capabilities and potentials. Two experimental studies compared participants’ task performance after manipulating the momentary accessibility of the expected self vs. the ought self. In Study 1, contrary to expectations, the activation of...