Did you ever notice yourself working hard to prove someone wrong and, by extension, prove yourself right? Did you ever wonder why you feel so motivated to do so? According to the self-completion theory (Wicklund & Gollwitzer, 1982), when people experience a threat to something they value about themselves as a person (i.e., an aspect of their identity), they become highly motivated to show others that element of their identity. For example, if a football player did not perform
