An experiment tested the hypothesis that causal attributions for self-standard discrepancies determine whether the motivation to reduce such discrepancies results in changing self toward standards or changing standards toward self. In this experiment, individuals who were either high or low in self-focus were led to direct attention either toward their performance or toward the standard for that performance immediately following a self-standard discrepancy induction. Predictions under high self-focus conditions were confirmed. High self-focus persons who focused on the standard attributed more causality for their performance to that cognitive element than to self and changed the standard toward self more than did high self-focus persons who focused on their performance and vice versa. Implications of these findings for theories involving operation of the self-to-standard type of system are discussed.
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