Sometimes the success of others is a source of good feelings. People take pride in their friends' or their spouse's accomplishments, and this brings people closer to their friends or spouse. Sometimes the accomplishments of friends are threatening and may even disrupt the relationships. These kinds of complex interpersonal dynamics are the focus of the selfevaluation maintenance (SEM) model.

The SEM model is based on two broad assumptions: (1) People want to maintain a positive evaluation of the self. (2) The way people evaluate themselves is at least partially determined by the accomplishments of the people around them, particularly the people to whom they are close. These assumptions appear to be useful in understanding a variety of social and personal behaviors. The SEM model specifies two ...