Self-concept Differentiation Research Articles

Sexual Self-Concept Differentiation: An Exploratory Analysis of Online and Offline Self-Perspectives.

Self-concept differentiation (SCD) has been of interest to researchers, mainly as a structural concept indicative of social specialization or self-concept fragmentation. Nevertheless, this aspect of self-representation has not been studied in regard to sexuality and the extent to which the sexual self may vary across different roles or situations. With the emergence of the Internet, people found new opportunities to explore and express aspects of their sexuality in multiple online scenes, thus increasing the complexity of human sexual experience and expanding the reach of sexual identity. The aim of this study is to investigate SCD in relation to the sexual self-concept, as experienced in the online and offline environments, and its effects on sexual identity, sexual satisfaction and online sexual behaviors. Data analysis pointed towards a fragmented self-view with high degrees of differentiation between the online and offline sexual self-instances being linked to a weaker sense of sexual identity, less sexual satisfaction in real life and less partnered online interactions. However, there were some indications that these relationships were influenced by how people perceive themselves sexually in one instance compared to the other. The results obtained in this study encourage further research on SCD as an important factor in understanding the real-world consequences of online sexual expression.

Psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Self-Pluralism Scale (SPS).

The Self-Pluralism Scale (SPS) measures the declared degree of self-pluralism, visible already in William James's works. Self-pluralism refers to the degree to which one perceives oneself as typically feeling, behaving, and being different, in different situations, and at different times. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the SPS. A total of 1747 participants (67% were women) between the ages of 15 and 70 years completed the SPS along with measures of self-concept inconsistency, self-concept differentiation, dissociative experiences, internal dialogical activity, personality, and social desirability. Internal reliability and test-retest reliability were high. The full version has too low indices of fit whereas the brief, 10-item version fits the data well. As indicators of the convergent validity, a positive correlation of SPS with self-concept inconsistency, self-concept differentiation, dissociative experiences, internal dialogical activity and neuroticism and a negative correlation with agreeableness and social desirability were found. The results suggest that the brief, 10-item version is more valid than the full, 30-item version. The tool may be used for scientific research concerning self-pluralism. After collecting data from a sample that would allow norms to be constructed, the tool may also be useful for individual diagnosis.

The effect of personality diversity on life satisfaction and job performance

The purpose of this study is to verify the effect of personality diversity on well-being in life and job performance. Personality diversity is a hypothetical construct for this study based on self-concept differentiation across roles, considering both the variability between roles and the variability within a role in personality. Personality diversity is the variety of subject-specific personality, which refers to a variety of distinctive personality that are expressed according to the role. To this end, it is examined how personality diversity relates to life satisfaction and job performance. After that, the process is explained through a mediated model by achievement goals. As a result, personality diversity showed negative relationship with life satisfaction. This result reconfirmed the previous studies. However, personality diversity had positive correlations with task performance, context performance, and adaptational performance. And even after controlling the level of personality, personality diversity showed significant incremental validity for task performance. In addition, the mastery approach goal orientation showed partial mediation effect between the personality diversity and task performance and full mediation effect between the personality diversity and the other criterion variables, contextual and adaptational performance. These results suggest that personality diversity is distinguished from the level of personality and can have adaptive effect on job performance rather than supporting the self-fragmentation hypothesis of prior researches. Finally, the need of reliability test for personality diversity and further research was suggested.

How Does Self-Concept Differentiation Work in Chinese Retirees: A Moderated Mediation Analysis.

Self-concept differentiation (SCD) is a sign of fragmentation of the self rather than specialization of role identities for its robust relationship with psychological adjustment. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the relationship between SCD and psychological adjustment. The aim of this study was to examine the mediating role of self-consistency and congruence (SCC) in the association between SCD and psychological adjustment (psychological well-being, depression, and anxiety), and the moderating role of age in the relationship between SCD and SCC. This moderated mediation model was examined among 158 Chinese retirees (mean age = 71.12, SD = 9.13), who completed measurements regarding SCD, SCC, psychological well-being, anxiety, and depression. The results showed that SCC partially mediated the links between SCD and the indices of psychological adjustment. Furthermore, age moderated this mediation effect, which was found in mean and high-age participants, but not in low-age ones. Our findings indicate that, at different age stages, the internal mechanisms of SCD affecting psychological adaptation are not the same, and a low differentiated or highly integrated self can serve as an adaptive resource to maintain high subjective well-being of the elderly and protect them from anxiety and depression.

Does higher self-concept differentiation predict better psychological adjustment? A re-examination from the perspective of Level of Personal Agency

Does higher self-concept differentiation predict better psychological adjustment? A re-examination from the perspective of Level of Personal Agency

Differentiation of academic self-concept in primary school students with mild learning difficulties: A factor mixture analysis approach

This study analyzed the latent structure of academic ability self-concepts of primary school students with mild learning difficulties (MLD) cross-sectionally at three time points. We sought to explore (a) whether MLD students at the end of primary school already show a differentiated, domain-specific self-concept, (b) whether there are subgroups of students with different degrees of self-concept differentiation, and (c) whether belonging to any of these subgroups depends on attending inclusive vs. exclusive school settings. Factor analyses with a sample of >400 students from mainstream (inclusive) and special (exclusive) primary schools revealed clearly differentiated academic self-concepts for reading, writing, and math. There was no further differentiation at later time points. In factor mixture analyses, two latent classes emerged which showed equal factorial structures of their academic self-concepts but differed in the level of mean self-concept factor scores. Students from inclusive schools were more likely to belong into the class with lower mean academic self-concept scores. Overall, our findings provide useful insights into the structure and level of academic self-concepts of primary school students with MLD which, in turn, may contribute to the debate on more inclusive schooling of these students.

The Development of Multiple Domains of Self-Concept in Late Childhood and in Early Adolescence

The paper examines the development of self-concept across multiple domains using Slovenian late childhood and early adolescence samples in longitudinal design. In the preset study we analyzed (i) the developmental paths of specific domains of self-concept; (ii) sex related differences in the development specific domains of self; (iii) stability of self-concept in different age groups, and (iv) the level of self-concept differentiation in Slovenia. We used The Self-Concept Questionnaire (Musitu et al. 2012) that measures four self-concept domains: social self, family self, academic self and emotional self in a late childhood sample (9 year olds; N = 41) and in an early adolescent sample (14 year olds; N = 36) in 5 time point (3 to 6 months apart). In Slovenia children are in the same school, called basic school, from age of 6 until age of 15 which provides a good setting to observe developmental changes in a stable environment (without transition). The results show significant decrease in emotional self-concept in two year time in late childhood sample and significant increase of general self-concept, social self-concept and family self-concept in early adolescent’s sample. The stability and the level of differentiation were comparable in both age groups. Sex did not have significant effect on self-concept domains development in two year time.

Effects of self-concept differentiation on sense of identity: The divided self revisited again

Abstract This article describes research on the associations between self-concept structure and sense of personal identity. Particular emphasis was given to the feature of self-concept differentiation (SCD). Notably, it was examined whether the effects of SCD on such aspects of self-experience as sense of having inner contents, sense of uniqueness, sense of one’s own boundaries, sense of coherence, sense of continuity in time, and sense of self-worth depend on individuals’ epistemic motivation, and more specifically their joint need for cognition, reflection, and integrative self-knowledge scores. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct profiles of epistemic motivation: disengaged, engaged and struggling, and engaged and integrating group. Subsequent analysis showed, first, that the three groups differed in SCD and sense of identity, with the epistemically disengaged group having the highest levels of SCD, and the epistemically engaged and integrating group having consistently the strongest sense of identity. Second, and more importantly, it showed that SCD was negatively related to overall sense of identity, and, in particular, senses of having inner contents, coherence and continuity in time, but only among individuals in the epistemically engaged and struggling group.

How do self-concept differentiation and self-concept clarity interrelate in predicting sense of personal identity?

Research has established that there are individual differences in the self-structure, and that they are relevant for an individual's psychological and social functioning. However, little is known about how they interrelate to predict certain outcomes. The present study focused on two such individual differences – self-concept differentiation and self-concept clarity – and examined the influence of self-concept clarity on the relationship between self-concept differentiation and sense of identity, first as a mediator, and secondly as a moderator. Self-concept clarity was found to mediate this relationship, with no direct effect of self-concept differentiation on sense of identity. No support was found for the moderating effect of self-concept clarity. Results are interpreted as extending previously reported data regarding the relative independence and significance of the two constructs.

Self-Complexity and Self-Concept Differentiation - What Have We Been Measuring for the Past 30 Years?

Research on the relation between the structure of the self-concept and psychological well-being has yielded seemingly inconsistent and even conflicting results. This article presents studies that examined the validity of often-used measures of self-complexity and self-concept differentiation and tested their ability to predict personal identity and active cognitive processing. The findings revealed several conceptual and methodological problems that continue to plague self-structure research, including the conflating of self-concept content and self-concept structure. In short, our data indicated that the commonly used indices of self-complexity and self-concept differentiation cannot be considered pure measures of the underlying dimensions of self-structure. In addition, only weak correlations of the self-structure variables with measures of personal identity and thinking dispositions have been found. Moreover, once the theoretically irrelevant sources of variance were controlled, the effects of the included structural features of the self-concept on the outcomes of interest either did not occur or were less pronounced. Given the above, it seems reasonable to suggest that at least some of the conclusions regarding the adaptive value of self-structural variables drawn from previous research in this field need revision.

Investigating context specificity, self-schema characteristics, and personality test validity

Research indicates that providing a specific context in personality measures (e.g., “at school”) improves predictive validity. This study examined this issue in more detail, investigating a broader range of outcomes and the moderating role of self-concept clarity and self-concept differentiation. University students (N=158) completed online general and school-specific personality measures; questionnaires assessing self-concept clarity and self-concept differentiation; and measures of grade point average, leadership, and health. Results supported the benefits of using contextualized personality measures, with evidence demonstrating incremental validity for contextualized personality measures over general personality measures as well as significantly stronger relationships between contextualized personality measures and relevant criteria. Additionally, hypotheses related to the effects of clarity and differentiation were largely unsupported; however, some patterns suggested that it may be useful to continue to explore these self-schema structural characteristics in future research.

The divided self and psychological (mal) adjustment – A meta-analytic review

Classic and contemporary lines of research have studied the psychological meaning of self-concept differentiation (SCD), the tendency to see oneself as having different personality characteristics in different social contexts. A key question is whether SCD signifies specialization or, rather, indicates fragmentation and psychological maladjustment. Here we provide the first meta-analytic review of findings from more than 50years of research on SCD and psychological adjustment (k=54 samples). Results provided overall evidence for the fragmentation position and the importance of a consistent self-concept for an individual’s adjustment. However, continuous moderator analyses revealed that the effect largely depends on the individual’s cultural background. The more individualistic the cultural sample, the stronger the link between SCD and psychological maladjustment.

What Do We Know When We Know a PersonAcross Contexts? Examining Self‐Concept Differentiation at the Three Levels of Personality

Previous research examining self-concept differentiation (SCD) has been characterized by (a) a focus on behavioral traits and (b) the conflation of mean-level and inter-contextual differentiation. In two studies, we considered non-conflated measures of SCD at the three levels of personality description in relation to adjustment. In Study 1, participants completed measures of adjustment, rated their behavioral tendencies (dispositional traits), produced a list of goals (characteristic adaptations), and recalled a self-defining memory (life narratives), from within professional and personal domains. In Study 2, the procedure was modified: Participants reporting either low or high levels of adjustment subsequently rated their behavioral traits, provided a list of goals, or produced a self-defining memory, from five contexts. In Study 1, adjustment related positively to SCD at the level of characteristic adaptations but negatively to SCD at the level of life narratives. In Study 2, well-adjusted participants exhibited a greater degree of SCD at the level of characteristic adaptations but a greater degree of thematic consistency at the level of life narratives, relative to those low in adjustment. These results highlight the dynamic nature of SCD across levels of personality and align with the notion that differentiation represents virtue and vice.

Differentiation between work and nonwork self-aspects as a predictor of presenteeism and engagement: Cross-cultural differences.

Research on the work-life interface does not specifically account for how individuals cognitively conceptualize their work and nonwork lives in terms of the differentiation between work and nonwork self-aspects. In addition, no cross-cultural research examines self-concept differentiation in conjunction with employee outcomes of presenteeism and engagement, pointing to a need to study these relationships cross-culturally. Results of the current study revealed cultural differences in self-concept differentiation, engagement, mental presenteeism, and physical presenteeism. Indian participants reported lower levels of differentiation and higher levels of engagement, mental presenteeism, and physical presenteeism than American participants. Nationality interacted with self-concept differentiation to predict mental presenteeism, physical presenteeism, and engagement. Among Indian participants, self-concept differentiation did not impact scores on the other variables. However, among American participants, those lower in differentiation reported greater engagement, lower mental presenteeism, and lower physical presenteeism. These results have important implications for the study of the work-life interface, and they provide evidence that engagement and presenteeism may be culturally contingent.

Change in Self-Concept Differentiation after Psychotherapy and its Relation to Psychological Maladjustment

The research was carried out with a group of 105 psychotherapy participants, diagnosed with neurosis or personality disorders, and 36 controls. Analysis supported the hypotheses that self-concept differentiation (SCD) decreases after psychotherapeutic interventions and that the reduction in SCD is positively correlated with an improvement in neurotic symptoms and neurotic personality traits.

What Does It Mean to Be in Touch With Oneself? Testing a Social Character Model of Self-congruence

What does it mean to be in or out of touch with oneself? Using undergraduate samples we tested a new conception and measure of self-congruence, based on the social character that people inhabit in their interpersonal lives. The measure quantifies whether the Big Five traits of a person's typical social character are consistent with the traits of his/her unguarded self. Study 1 (N = 135) showed that the non-discrepant character measure predicted subjective well-being (SWB), independently of the traits (i.e., low neuroticism, high extraversion) comprising the measure. The association with SWB was also independent of Goldman and Kernis's (2002) Likert-based measure of authenticity. Study 2 (N = 170) replicated these effects and also showed that the new measure was associated with self-concept differentiation (SCD; Donahue, Robins, Roberts, & John, 1993) and, in fact, accounted for SCD's effects. Study 2 demonstrated that psychological need-satisfaction mediated the link between having a non-discrepant social character and SWB.

Self-Concept Differentiation and Self-Concept Clarity across Adulthood: Associations with Age and Psychological Well-Being

This study focused on the identification of conceptually meaningful groups of individuals based on their joint self-concept differentiation (SCD) and self-concept clarity (SCC) scores. Notably, we examined whether membership in different SCD-SCC groups differed by age and also was associated with differences in psychological well-being (PWB). Cluster analysis revealed five distinct SCD-SCC groups: a self-assured, unencumbered, fragmented-only, confused-only, and fragmented and confused group. Individuals in the self-assured group had the highest mean scores for positive PWB and the lowest mean scores for negative PWB, whereas individuals in the fragmented and confused group showed the inverse pattern. Findings showed that it was psychologically advantageous to belong to the self-assured group at all ages. As hypothesized, older adults were more likely than young adults to be in the self-assured cluster, whereas young adults were more likely to be in the fragmented and confused cluster. Thus, consistent with extant theorizing, age was positively associated with psychologically adaptive self-concept profiles.

Narcissism, variability in self-concept, and well-being

The present research examined whether narcissism is related to higher variability in self-concept across roles and time points. Three indices of self-concept variability across roles were formulated based on the participants’ self-ratings for personality attributes. A probabilistic sample in Study 1 as well as a student sample in Study 2 revealed that the narcissistic personality inventory (NPI) positively correlated with the variability indices, except for the self-concept differentiation (SCD), while well-being measures were only related to SCD. The student sample also showed a significant correlation between NPI and longitudinal variability in self-concept within a month-long interval. Implications for the instability of the narcissistic self-concept and its relationship with psychological well-being are discussed.

Reactivity to daily stressors in adulthood: The importance of stressor type in characterizing risk factors.

This study examined daily stressors in adults ages 18 to 89 years (M = 49.6 years) over 30 days. We examined the role of individual factors (i.e., age, self-concept differentiation [SCD], perceived control) in physical and psychological reactivity to interpersonal, network, home, and health stressors. Findings were consistent with the perspective that adults were less reactive to stress on days during which they felt in control and that younger adults and adults with high SCD were more vulnerable to stress. Age, SCD, and daily perceived control, however, interacted with one another, and findings varied by stressor type. For example, age differences in reactivity were moderated by SCD whereby older adults with low SCD were particularly resilient to home stressors. In addition, whether perceived control buffered adults' reactivity to daily stress varied by age and SCD. For example, only adults with high SCD were psychologically reactive to network stressors and this was the case only on days during which they reported experiencing low control. The findings emphasize the importance of considering the varying ways in which individual characteristics interact to influence stress reactivity to different types of stressors.

自己概念の多面性と精神的健康との関係──女子大学生を対象とした調査──

This study examined the relationship between self-concept variability and psychological well-being. We hypothesized that the meaning of interpersonal relationships moderated the effect of self-concept variability on psychological well-being. Participants were 152 female undergraduate students, who completed a questionnaire about their self-concept variability, psychological well-being (depression/anxiety), and the meaning of interpersonal relationships. The results showed that subjective self-concept variability was positively correlated with psychological well-being, although self-concept differentiation was not correlated with psychological well-being. The correlation between the degree of self-concept variability and psychological well-being was affected by the meaning of interpersonal relationships. The results suggest that the meaning of interpersonal relationships is an important determinant of the integration of self.