Abstract
The reverse correlation (RC) method has been widely used, because it allows visualization of mental representations without a priori assumptions about relevant dimensions. We employed the RC method to visualize mental representations of self and examined their relationships with traits related to self-image. For this purpose, 110 participants (70 women) performed a two-image forced choice RC task to generate a classification image of self (self-CI). Participants perceived their self-CIs as bearing a stronger resemblance to themselves than did CIs of others (filler-CIs). Valence ratings of participants who performed the RC task (RC sample) and of 30 independent raters both showed positive correlations with self-esteem, explicit self-evaluation, and extraversion. Moreover, valence ratings of independent raters were negatively correlated with social anxiety symptoms. On the other hand, valence ratings of the RC sample and independent raters were not correlated with depression symptoms, trait anxiety, or social desirability. The results imply that mental representations of self can be properly visualized by using the RC method.
Highlights
Self-image is defined as a subjective perception of oneself, affecting one’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior to a great extent (Coon, 1997)
To test whether participants perceived their own classification image (CI) as bearing a stronger resemblance to themselves than did filler CIs, we performed a one-way repeated measure analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) with resemblance rating as a dependent variable
The resemblance rating was significantly correlated neither with the valence ratings of self-CIs evaluated by independent raters (r = −0.02, p = 0.598) nor with the other study variables (|r| s = 0.01 ∼0.13, p = ns), except for the valence ratings evaluated by the reverse correlation (RC) sample
Summary
Self-image is defined as a subjective perception of oneself, affecting one’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior to a great extent (Coon, 1997). Self-image is commonly known to be in a verbal form. A person with a positive self-image associates words like “Nice,” “Competent,” or “Attractive” with oneself (Amos et al, 1997). It can be in a visual form, when people conceive images of themselves. Among those images, a facial self-image is claimed to be a fundamental factor of self-identity, self-recognition, and self-awareness, by which one distinguishes oneself from others (Keenan et al, 2000; Lou et al, 2004). Very little is known about the visual aspect of facial self-image. To understand self-image more thoroughly, we aimed to visualize mental representations of self by using a technique called reverse correlation (RC) and examine their relationships with features relevant to self-image
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