In psychology, certain seemingly-maladaptive human behaviors superficially appear to be attempts to confirm one's own self views (i.e. self-esteem, self-concept, or self-knowledge), even when this self-view is negative or inaccurate.
However, what SVT identifies as confirmation-attempts, raison oblige theory instead considers attempts to accurately and honestly convey one's self-views to others.
[3] ROT analyzes what is conventionally considered self-verifying behavior: any action which ultimately coincides with and reinforces existing self-views.
The latter case has been observed in a wide variety of contexts, including (feigned) psychological studies,[4] romantic partnerships,[5] college roommates,[6] and social groups.
Given the traditional emphasis on self-enhancement, self-improvement and self-assessment motives, the naïve student might assume the effects of rationality small.
Instead, every healthy person is aware of reality and adheres to an unspoken set of rules of reason permitting them to act consistently with the physical world around them.
Empirical evidence suggests that I would opt for person A. ROT explains this choice in terms of whether I can earnestly believe the information so gained to be a true representation of myself.
[12] If a motivation to self-verify were present then people with low self-esteem would not care about what their self-view was, they would instead focus on actively trying to confirm it.
Depression is accompanied by very low self-esteem and has therefore been a topic of strong interest for those investigating self verifying behaviors.
The choice of negative feedback reflects the obligation to choose information consistent with an honestly held self view.
In concurrence with SVT and ROT predictions they chose the unfavorable feedback due to a negative self-view.
Therefore, SVT and ROT studies tend to focus on depressive participants whose verification of negative information can not be attributed to self-enhancement.
[16] Self-verification theory would explain this by the abused partner's need to self-verify that the way they are being treated is deserved, in order to establish an accurate self-concept (Swann & Ely, 1984).