Private self-consciousness, public self-consciousness, and trait anxiety.

Abstract

In 1975, Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (2) published a scale to measure individual differences in self-consciousness. Three subscales were differentiated: private self-consciousness, public self-consciousness, and social anxiety. In the initial report, low and nonsignificant correlations of .23 and .26 were reported between private and public self-consciousness. In subsequent studies, slightly higher and significant correlations were obtained: .33 ( 1) to -31 (3) for six samples. Research with the scale has explored the relation between self-consciousness and cest anxiety. In one study (I), both private and public self-consciousness were not significantly related to test anxiety (r = -.I1 and -.01). In a second study (3), private self-consciousness was again unrelated to test anxiety ( 7 = -.02) but there was a low significant correlation between public selfconsciousness and cest anxiety (r = .20) All of the samples reported in the literature are either al l male or a mixedsex group. This note reports data for two samples of 30 and 40 female undergraduates. In the first sample, the Self-consciousness Scale and the trait anxiety portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were administered to subjects individually. In the second sample, the Self-consciousness Scale was administered in a group session. The Pearson correlations between the two selfconsciousness scales were higher than those previously 'reported. In the first sample, r28 = .430, two-tailed, p < .05, while in the second sample, 738 = .634, two-tailed, p < .01. In the first sample, both self-consciousness scales were significantly related to trait anxiety. For private self-consciousness, r ? ~ = ,430, two-tailed, p < .05, while for public self-consciousness, me =, ,528, two-tailed, p < .01. Such data suggest private and public self-consciousness are more closely related for females than for males. Furthermore, the correlations between self-consciousness and trait anxiety are moderate and should be explored further with males. In any event, more research is needed on the discriminant validity of the self-consciousness measures. REFERENCES 1. CARVER, C., & GLASS, D. The self-consciousness scale: a discriminant validiry study. Journal o f Personality Assessment, 1976, 40, 169-172. 2. FENIGSTEIN, A., SCHEIER, M., & BUSS, A. Public and private self-consciousness: assessment and theoty. Journal of Conrulting and Clinical Psychology, 1975, 43 , 522-527. 3. TURNER, R., SCHEIER, M., CARVER, C., & ICKES, W. Correlates of self-consciousness. Journal o f Personality Assessment, 1978, 42, 285-289. Acce~ted Fehrvary 18, 1981.