Self-Concept Focus: A Tendency to Perceive Autobiographical Events as Central to Identity

Abstract

Self-Concept Focus is a 15-item measure of the disposition to make autobiographical memories central to one's self-concept and thus to rehearse them more frequently. In studies with 400 MTurk workers and 299 undergraduates, Self-Concept Focus had high reliability (α ∼.83), good test-retest stability (r = .66) that did not decline between 7 and 54 days, good psychometric properties in a bifactor measurement model, and results that replicated across studies. A factor analysis of nine measures relevant to self-concept resulted in two factors. Self-Concept Focus, Reflection, Reappraisal and Private Self-Consciousness all loaded on one factor, suggesting an underlying dimension of elaborative rehearsal of memories and emotion regulation. Self-Concept Focus also correlated with PTSD symptoms for a single very negative event and thus with opportunities to modify such memory-based symptoms. Given its association with elaborative rehearsal and emotion regulation, Self-Concept Focus has potential applied relevance in clinical, forensic and consumer contexts.