Ego involvement refers to the centrality or significance
of a belief, task or outcome to a person’s selfconcept
and self-worth. Activities or outcomes where
ego is highly involved are extrinsically motivated by
the confirmation of one’s self-concept and, by extension,
the desire to protect or enhance self-esteem. In
relation to goals, motivation, and learning, ego involvement
is contrasted with task-involvement, where the
motivation to perform is intrinsic, derived from the task qualities. Ego involvement evokes an external social
self-evaluative perspective on the self, emphasizing
demonstrating one’s ability relative to others rather
than for the sake of the task itself, and can be detrimental
to both intrinsic motivation and learning when compared
to task-involvement.
Ego involvement in beliefs is also detrimental to communication
and attitude change. According to Sherif and
Hovland’s (1961) Social Judgement-involvement
approach, ego involvement is a key mediator in predicting
attitude change and tolerance of other opinions. The
continuum of latitude of acceptance and rejection indicates
how amenable an individual is to a range of opinions.
Issues with high ego involvement have a high
latitude of rejection, indicating that there is a wider spectrum
of positions on an issue likely to be objectionable.
Evaluating ideas where ego is highly involved (i.e., politics,
family, religion) arouses intense attitudes and
biased interpretation of messages, so individuals with
high ego involvement in an issue are highly unlikely to
be persuaded by or even tolerate divergent views.
Conversely, a person with low or no ego involvement
and lower latitudes of rejection in an issue is more able
to assess the facts with some detachment. “When the
ego is involved in any situation, in any capacity, our
reactions are not impartial. We become highly selective,
accentuating certain aspects, glossing over other aspects
to the point of recasting the whole situation to protect or
enhance our ego” (Sherif & Sargent, 1947, p. 10).
