This theory explores how people adapt to situations and information that threaten their sense of self. If people focus on the values that are personally meaningful to them when faced with information that threatens their sense of self, they are less likely to be upset and become defensive.
Citation: Steele, C. M. (1988). The psychology of self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 21, pp. 261-302). Academic Press.