Strategies to Improve Well-Being and Diabetes Management

Self-affirmation theory contends that integrity of one's self-concept (self integrity) is essential for navigating daily stressors. When individuals encounter information or contexts that pose a threat to one's self-integrity, we can adopt maladaptive coping strategies to alleviate the discomfort. One strategy for strengthening self-integrity is engage in an explicit process of reinforcing sources of self-worth - self-affirmation. Self affirmation interventions have participants engage in an exercise writing about core personal values (a writing induction). In a writing induction, participants review a list of values and are instructed to choose up to two that are important to them. Participants are then asked to write a few sentences about why their chosen values are important to them and identify times in which these values have helped them navigate challenges.