  We derive the effective potentials for composite operators in a
Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model at zero and finite temperature and show that in
each case they are equivalent to the corresponding effective potentials based
on an auxiliary scalar field. The both effective potentials could lead to the
same possible spontaneous breaking and restoration of symmetries including
chiral symmetry if the momentum cutoff in the loop integrals is large enough,
and can be transformed to each other when the Schwinger-Dyson (SD) equation of
the dynamical fermion mass from the fermion-antifermion vacuum (or thermal)
condensates is used. The results also generally indicate that two effective
potentials with the same single order parameter but rather different
mathematical expressions can still be considered physically equivalent if the
SD equation corresponding to the extreme value conditions of the two potentials
have the same form.
