The relation of ideal self to perception of self and others

Abstract

One hundred and twelve (112) junior high school students made ratings of their ideal and actual selves, and of other persons of same sex whom they liked or disliked, using uni-polar scales of 42 positive and 42 negative traits words. Positive and negative ideal-self rating scores correlated with those for actual-self and others. At the same time, rating scores on important traits for each subject which gained the highest score in ideal-self rating differed among the actual self and the liked other and disliked other--the liked other was rated more positively than the disliked other, though self-esteem affected relative positiveness of actual self to liked or disliked others. However, no such differences were found on unimportant traits which gained lower scores in ideal-self rating. These results seem to indicate that both positive and negative ideal selves provide cognitive framework for perception of self and others.