Self-consciousness and aspects of identity

The place of Cheek & Briggs (1982) in the History and Development of the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire http:/ / academics.wellesley.edu/ Psychology/ Cheek/ identity.html I dentity orientations refer to the relative importance or value that individuals place on various identity attributes or characteristics when constructing their self-definitions. I n the dialectical developmental processes of self-interpretation, identity orientations indicate where one looks to fulfill identity needs (Cheek, 1989; Hogan & Cheek, 1983). [ https:/ / www.academia.edu/ 4491708/ I dentity_Orientations_and_Self-I nterpretation] The development of the Aspects of I dentity Questionnaire began with the selection of items from Sampson's (1978) list of identity characteristics that were judged to represent the domains of personal and social identity (Cheek & Briggs, 1981, 1982). Subsequently, some items were reworded, others eliminated, and new items were developed to improve the reliability and content validity of the measures (Cheek, 1982/ 83; Cheek & Hogan, 1981; Hogan & Cheek, 1983). Psychometric analyses indicated that certain items originally scored in the social identity category (e.g., "Being a part of the many generations of my family") were tending to cluster on a third factor representing communal or collective identity. A third scale for this domain was developed (Cheek, Underwood, & Cutler, 1985) and has now been expanded (Cheek, Tropp, Chen, & Underwood, 1994; JM Cheek, Tropp, Underwood, & NN Cheek, 2013). Neither the social nor collective identity orientation scales focus on intimate relationships with close friends or romantic partners, so a fourth scale for relational identity orientation (“Being a good friend to those I really care about”) was added to the AI Q-I V (Cheek, Smith, & Tropp, 2002; NN Cheek, JM Cheek, Grimes, & Tropp, 2014). {See instructions and item scoring for the Aspects of I dentity Questionnaire at: http:/ / academics.wellesley.edu/ Psychology/ Cheek/ aiqiv_text.html } A. Personal and Social Identity scales. (Original version) Sources: Cheek, J. M. & Briggs, S. R. (1981, August). Self-consciousness, self-monitoring, and aspects of identity. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA. (Part of which was published as Cheek & Briggs, 1982). Cheek, J. M., & Briggs, S. R. (1982). Self-consciousness and aspects of identity. Journal of Research in Personality, 16, 401-408. Adapted from: Sampson, E. E. (1978). Personality and the location of identity. Journal of Personality, 46, 552-568. Number of Items:   6 personal identity characteristics (identity orientation items) 5 social identity characteristics (identity orientation items) Subsequent developments in the scales and expansions of the AI Q 1983-2003 are summarized at: http:/ / academics.wellesley.edu/ Psychology/ Cheek/ identity.html#history See the last page of this document and Appendix Table for current developments and links for the AI Q-I V. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY 16, 401-408 (1982) Self-Consciousness and Aspects of Identity I JONATHAN M. CHEEK Johns Hopkins University AND STEPHEN R. BRIGGS University of Tulsa This study investigated the relationship between public and private selfconsciousness and social and personal aspects of identity. As predicted by selfconsciousness theory, public self-consciousness correlated significantly more strongly with social than with personal aspects of identity, and private selfconsciousness correlated significantly more strongly with personal than with social aspects of identity. Implications for the psychology of identity are discussed. Identity is the construct that defines who or what a particular person is. The diverse elements that comprise the identity of an individual can be divided into two general categories (Miller, 1963). One involves a person's social roles and relationships, which may be called social identity; the other is one's private conception of self and feelings of continuity and uniqueness, or personal identity. Sociologists and social psychologists focus almost exclusively on the social component of identity because they believe that "the shaping· of one's identity is dependent on the valuations (sanctions, reinforcements) placed on one's public conduct by relevant others" (Sarbin & Allen, 1968, p. 550). Personality theorists such as Jung (1957) and Maslow (1961), on the other hand, have insisted that people are most authentically themselves and closest to their true identity when experiencing a deep sense of personal uniqueness. For most individuals identity undoubtedly involves both social and personal aspects, although there may be marked individual differences in the We thank Catherine Busch, Arnold Buss, and Gary Schwartz for their assistance and for their comments on an earlier version of this paper. Requests for reprints should be sent to Jonathan Cheek, who is now at the Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02181. 401 0092-6566/82/040401-08$02.00/0 Copyright © 1982 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights or reproduction in any Form reserved. ｾ＠ ... ｾ＠ _.Q _:J_ \) ｾ＠ -" t ｾ＠ ｾ＠ Q... ｾ＠ 0 L <:t 402 CHEEK AND BRIGGS SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND IDENTITY relative importance of social identity compared to personal identity. For some individuals the social aspects predominate, and for others the balance is tipped toward the personal aspects of identity. One personality disposition that might be related to this balance is self-consciousness. Public self-consciousness is the tendency to be aware of one's appearance and concerned about making a good impression on others; private self-consciousness involves focusing attention on the internal or covert aspects of the self (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975). High scorers on the Public Self-Consciousness Scale have been found to be more sensitive to rejection and more attuned to social reference groups than are low scorers (Fenigstein, 1979; Carver & Humphries, 1981). People with high scores on the Private Self-Consciousness Scale give more accurate self-reports, have more extreme affective responses, and write longer self-descriptions than do low scorers (Scheier, Buss, & Buss, 1978; Scheier & Carver, 1977; Turner, 1978a). Thus, laboratory research has revealed that public self-consciousness has a different, and sometimes divergent, impact on behavior than does private self-consciousness (see also Scheier, 1980; Turner, 1978b). It has been proposed that this public-private distinction applies to identity: Other things being equal, private self-conscious people emphasize the individual aspects of their identity. They attend more to the unshared idiosyncracies of their particular experiences, fantasies, and feelings .... Public self-conscious people tend to identify with groups. They see themselves as social beings, sharing attitudes and affiliations with others .... These public identities, important for most people, are especially important for people high in public self-consciousness. (Buss, 1980, p. 122) In terms of self-consciousness theory, then, one's habitual direction of self-focused attention should be reflected in the balance between social and personal aspects of identity. Private self-consciousness should tilt the balance in the direction of personal identity; public self-consciousness should tilt the balance toward social identity. To examine the relationship between self-consciousness and identity, we administered a questionnaire inquiring about the importance of social and personal identity characteristics to college students who had previously completed the Public and Private Self-Consciousness Scales. METHOD Subjects and Procedures During the first week of the semester, as part of a battery of personality tests, the Public and Private Self-Consciousness Scales were administered in an introductory psychology class by several researchers: neither author was present. Four to eight weeks later, to ' fulfill a course requirement for research experience, the subjects came individually to a research room where they completed the identity questionnaire under the supervision of 403 one of the authors. The subjects rated each identity item on a scale ranging from 0 (not at all important to my sense of who I am) to 4 (extremely important to my sense of who I am). There were 214 subjects, 106 men and 108 women. Measures Self-consciousness. Awareness of one's self as a social object is measured by the 7-item Public Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein et al., 1975). Items on this scale include ''I'm usually aware of my appearance" and "I'm concerned about what other people think of me." The Private Self-Consciousness Scale assesses an inward focus with 10 items such as "I'm always trying to figure myself out" and "I'm generally attentive to my inner feelings." The reliability and validity of both the Public and the Private Self-Consciousness Scales are supported by a substantial body of evidence (see Buss, 1980; Carver & Scheier, 198la, for reviews of the relevant research). Identity. The items for the scales measuring the importance of social and personal aspects of identity were selected from the list of 22 identity characteristics presented by Sampson (1978). He ordered these identity characteristics on a single dimension of internality-externality without distinguishing social-external items (e.g., "memberships that I have in various groups") from external items that have no definite social connotation (e.g., "the things I own, my possessions"). In our sample, Sampson's internal and external items had a slight positive correlation (r = .19). For the purposes of the present study, we had three raters select the items from Sampson's list that they judged to best represent the domain of social identity; all three raters agreed on their top five choices. For the domain of personal identity, our raters agreed upon six items, four of which appeared in Sampson's set of the five most internal identity characteristics. We were unable to form a reliable scale of nonsocial external items, so we will report only the findings for the personal and social identity characteristics. RESULTS All analyses were initially performed separately for each gender. Because the results for men and women were found to be highly similar, the data were combined for presentation. The five social identity characteristics are listed in the upper part of Table 1. These five items had an average interitem correlation of .25 and an alpha coefficient of .63, which appears to be an adequate level of internal consistency for a short research scale (Nunnally, 1978). The six personal identity characteristics are listed in the lower part of the table. The average interitem correlation was .26, and the scale had an alpha coefficient of .67. The correlation between the Social and Personal Identity Scales was .29, indicating that these are two fairly distinct dimensions of identity. Factor analyses of the identity items in this sample and a subsequent one support the conclusion that the personal and social apsects of identity are distinct dimensions (details are available from the first author; see also Cheek & Hogan, Note 1). Table 1 also contains the correlations between each identity item and the two self-consciousness scales. 1 Each social identity item correlated 1 The means for the Public and Private Self-Consciousness Scales, 19.8 and 24.6, respectively, are very close to the norms presented by Fenigstein et al. (1975). 404 TABLE I CORRELATIONS OF IDENTITY ITEMS AND SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALES Self-consciousness Identity items Social My popularity and attractiveness to other people. The ways I have of influencing and of affecting others. My gestures and mannerisms, the ways I express myself. My physical features-my height, weight, shape of my body, etc. Memberships that I have in various groups. Personal My emotions and feelings. My future goals and aspirations. My intellectual ability. My dreams and imagination. The ways I cope with my fears and anxieties, with the stresses and strains of living. My thoughts and ideas, the way my mind works. 405 SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND IDENTITY CHEEK AND BRIGGS Public Private .34 .24 .12 .09 .19 .07 .27 .14 .17 .05 .06 .14 .03 .16 .12 .27 .29 .18 .10 .24 .35 .00 Note. Correlations above .11 are significant beyond the .05level, those above .15 beyond the .01 level (n = 214). higher with public self-consciousness than with private self-consciousness. It might be argued that the relationship between social identity and public self-consciousness is due to similarity of items on the two scales. The identity item "My physical features-my height, weight, shape of body, etc." does bear some similarity to the public self-consciousness item "I'm self-conscious about the way I look." Also, the identity item "My gestures and mannerisms, the ways I express myself" is similar to the public self-consciousness item 'Tm concerned about my style of doing things." Notice, however, that the correlations between these two identity items and public self-consciousness varied considerably (.27 vs . 12). Furthermore, the other three social identity items, which bear no obvious similarity to public self-consciousness items, also varied in size, although all correlated significantly with public self-consciousness. Thus, the pattern of correlations for the similar items was no different from the pattern for the dissimilar items. In brief, the significant relationships between social identity items and public self-consciousness do not appear to be attributable to the artifact of item overlap. The bottom half of Table I contains the personal identity items and their correlations with the two self-consciousness scales. These identity items correlated higher with private self-consciousness than with public self-consciousness, but again there may be an issue of item overlap. Thus, the identity item "My emotions and feelings" is somewhat similar to the private self-consciousness item "I'm generally attentive to my inner feelings"; and the item "My dreams and imagination" partially resembles the private self-consciousness item ''I'm often the subject of my own fantasies." Notice, however, that the correlations between these two identity items and private self-consciousness varied considerably (.16 vs .29). Furthermore, the personal identity items that bear no resemblance to the private self-consciousness items all correlated significantly with the Private Self-Consciousness Scale. In brief, item overlap does not appear to explain the fact that the personal identity items correlated higher with private self-consciousness than with public self-consciousness. One reason for the considerable variability among the correlations presented in Table I is the well-known unreliability of correlational data based on single items. Therefore, let us focus on the data involving the entire Social Identity and Personal Identity Scales (see Table 2). Public self-consciousness correlated significantly higher with social than with personal aspects of identity, (t(211) = 2.47, p < .05; Ferguson, 1976, pp. 184-185). Private self-consciousness correlated more strongly with personal than with social aspects of identity, and this difference was also significant (1(211) = 2.92, p < .01). In this sample, public and private self-consciousness correlated .39, which is consistent with earlier research (Carver & Glass, 1976; Turner, Scheier, Carver, & Ickes, 1978). Partial correlations were computed to determine whether this positive relationship caused the weak but significant correlations between public self-consciousness and personal identity and between private self-consciousness and social identity. As can be seen in the right-hand side of Table 2, controlling for the correlation between public and private self-consciousness clarified the pattern of results. Public self-consciousness is related to social identity but TABLE 2 CORRELATIONS BETWEEN IDENTITY AND SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS Self-consciousness Partial correlations Correlations Social identity" Personal identityh • The b The * p < ** p < Public Private Public (controlling for private) .34** .15* .17* .39** .30** -.01 Private (controlling for public) .04 .37** Social Identity Scale had a mean of 12.0 and a standard deviation of 3.1. Personal Identity Scale had a mean of 18.6 and a standard deviation of 3.0. .05, n = 214. .001. 406 CHEEK AND BRIGGS SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND IDENTITY unrelated to personal identity, whereas private self-consciousness is related to personal identity but unrelated to social identity. REFERENCES DISCUSSION The pattern of results in the present study conlirms the hypothesis about the relationship between self-consciousness and identity and adds to the growing body of evidence supporting self-consciousness theory (Buss, 1980). The social orientation predominating in the self-definition of public self-conscious people is consistent with the attention they pay to their physical appearance (Miller & Cox, Note 2; Turner, Gilliland, & Klein, 1981 ). their identification with reference groups (Carver & Humphries, 1981), and their awareness of the impression they make on others (Tobey & Tunnell, 1981 ). The self-definition of private self-conscious people emphasizes a distinctly personal orientation that is consistent with their tendency to resist and to show reactance to coercive communication attempts (Carver & Scheier, 1981 b; Framing & Carver, 1981 ). The present results also demonstrate the importance of controlling for the moderate correlation between public and private self-consciousness. Correlations between the identity scales and the self-consciousness scales were moderate (r's in the .30s). The correlations are not any higher probably because of the nature of the questions being asked of the subjects. The self-consciousness scales inquire whether subjects are aware of certain aspects of selL the identity questionnaire inquires whether certain aspects are important. These are different questions. It is possible to be aware of an aspect of the self without its being important for identity. And it is possible to be relatively unaware of an aspect of the self and yet, when asked about its importance, to decide that it is important. The fact that self-consciousness and identity do not correlate any higher than they do suggests that they are separate constructs. The fact that they do correlate significantly leads us to conclude that personal and social identity arc linked, respectively, to private and public selfconsciousness, as Buss' theory suggests (1980). A final implication of the present study concerns the psychology of identity. Sampson (1978) suggested a bipolarity of identity: individuals orient themselves toward either the external or the internal environment to define their identity. Importance ratings for Sampson's internal and external identity characteristics. however, were positively rather than negatively correlated (r = .19). The social and personal aspects of identity also were positively correlated (r = .29). Inward and outward orientation thus seem to be two distinct, although related, dimensions and not opposite ends of a single continuum. This conclusion is congruent with the approach of Erikson (1956). who emphasized the importance of balancing the individual's personal needs with the opportunities and requirements of the social world in achieving mature identity. 407 Buss, A. H. Se{f-consciousnrss and socialanxictv. San Francisco: Freeman, llJ80. Carver, C. S .. & Glass, D. C. The self-consciousness scale: A discriminant validity study. Joumul of Personality Assessmelll, 1976. 40, 169-172. Carver, C. S., & Humphries, C. Havana daydreaming: A study of self-consciousness and the negative reference group among Cuban Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1981, 40, 545-552. Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. Attention and self-regulation: A control theory approach to human behavior. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1981. (a) Carver. C. S., & Scheier, M. F. Self-consciousness and reactance. Journal of Research in Personality, 1981, IS, 16-29. (b) Erikson, E. H. The problem of ego identity. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1956, 4, 56-121. Fenigstein, A. Self-consciousness, self-attention, and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1979, 37, 75-86. Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M. F., & Buss, A. H. Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1975, 43, 522-527. Ferguson, G. A. Statistical analysis in psychology and education. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976. 4th ed. Froming, W. J., & Carver, C. S. Divergent influences of private and public self-consciousness in a compliance paradigm. Journal of Research in Personality, 1981, IS, 159-171. Jung, C. G. The undiscovered self New York: New American Library, 1957. Maslow, A. H. Peak-experience as acute identity-experiences. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1961, 2I, 254-260. Miller, D. R. The study of social relationships: Situation, identity, and social interaction. InS. Koch (Ed.), Psychology: A study of a science. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963. Vol. 5. Nunnally, J. C. Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978. 2nd ed. Sampson, E. E. Personality and the location of identity. Journal of Personality, 1978, 46, 552-568. Sarbin, T. R., & Allen, V. L. Role theory. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1968. Scheier, M. F. Effects of public and private self-consciousness on the public expression of personal beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1980, 39, 514-521. Scheier, M. F., Buss, A. H., & Buss, D. M. Self-consciousness, self-report of aggressiveness, and aggression. Journal of Research in Personality, 1978, 12, 133-140. Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. Self-focused attention and the experience of emotion: Attraction, repulsion, elation, and depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1977, 3S, 625-636. Tobey, E. L., & Tunnell, G. Predicting our impressions on others: Effects of public selfconsciousness and acting, a self-monitoring subscale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1981, 7, 661-669. Turner, R. G. Effects of differential request procedures and self-consciousness on trait attributions. Journal of Research in Personality, 1978, I2, 431-438. (a) Turner, R. G. Consistency, self-consciousness, and the predictive validity of typical and maximal personality measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 1978, 12, 117-132. (b) Turner, R. G., Gilliland, L., & Klein, H. M. Self-consciousness, evaluation of physical characteristics, and physical attractiveness. Journal of Research in Personality, 1981, IS. 182-190. Cheek, J.M., & Briggs, S.R. (1982). Self-consciousness and aspects of identity. Journal of Research in Personality, 16, 401-408. 408 CHEEK AND BRIGGS Turner, R. G., Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Ickes, W. Correlates of self-consciousness. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1978, 42, 285-289. REFERENCE NOTES I. Cheek, J. M., & Hogan, R. The structure of identity: Personal and social aspects. Paper presented at the 89th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, August 1981. 2. Miller, L. C., & Cox. C. L. Public self-consciousness and makeup use: Individual differences in prepurational tactics. Paper presented at the 89th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, August 1981. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------See “History of the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire” > This JRP 1982 article and the 1981 APA paper with SR Briggs noted on page 1, are the original version of the personal and social identity orientation scales that evolved into the AIQ, the AIQIII and IIIx, and most recently the AIQ-IV. http://academics.wellesley.edu/Psychology/Cheek/identity.html Note 1 (above) became the empirical section of Hogan, R., & Cheek, J.M. (1983). Identity, authenticity, and maturity. In T.R. Sarbin & K.E. Scheibe (Eds.), Studies in social identity (pp. 339-357). New York: Praeger. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/4072694/Identity_authenticity_and_maturity The most recent interpretation of the AIQ-IV was presented in terms of a ‘tetrapartite model of self-construal’ at the 2013 and 2014 meetings of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology: Cheek, J.M., Tropp, L.R., Underwood, M.K., & Cheek, N.N. (2013, January). The Distinction between social and collective Identity Orientations in the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire. . Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/5261448/The_distinction_between_social_and_collective_identity_or ientations_in_the_Aspects_of_Identity_Questionnaire Cheek, N.N., Cheek, J.M., Grimes, J.O., & Tropp, L.R. (2014, February). Public displays of self: Distinctions among relational, social, and collective aspects of the interdependent self. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Austin, TX. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/6076525/Public_displays_of_self_Distinctions_among_relational_soc ial_and_collective_aspects_of_the_interdependent_self See Appendix Table on next page illustrating the Tetrapartite Model of Self as in the AIQ-IV: Appended as a Supplem ent al Table t o illust rat e t he Tet rapart it e Model of Self discussed in Cheek, N.N., Cheek, J.M., Grim es, J.O., & Tropp, L.R. ( 2014, February) . Public displays of self: Dist inct ions am ong relat ional, social, and collect ive aspect s of t he int erdependent self. Post er present ed at t he annual m eet ing of t he Societ y for Personalit y and Social Psychology, Aust in, TX. Table 18.3 is from Robins, R.W., Norem , J.K., & Cheek, J.M. ( 1999) . Nat uralizing t he self. I n L.A. Pervin & O.P. John ( Eds.) , Handbook of personalit y: Theory and research ( 2nd ed., pp. 443- 477) . New York: Guilford. TABLE 18.3. Layers and Structures of the Self Levels/locus of audience Orientation Description Example Basis of self-regard Cultural differences Individual differences Personal Private Traits, values, and abilities "I am a sensitive , person. Personal aspirations and standards Independent/ individualistic Personal Identity Orientation Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Private Self-Consciousness Individualism Scale Relational Intimate Other people with whom we have direct personal contact "I am Amy's close friend." Mutual regard; pride in and validation from intimate others Inclusion of Other in Self Scale Mutuality Scale Interdependent Self-Construal Scale Internal Working Models Social Interpersonal Social roles and reputation "I am a popular professor." Public recognition; praise from others Social Identity Orientation Public Self-Consciousness Scale Social Self-Confidence (vs. Shyness) Collective Communal Social categories to which we belong "I am Irish." Ethnic pride; pride in one's social groups Interdependent/ collectivistic Collective Identity Orientation Collective Self-Esteem Scale Inclusion of Other in Group Scale Collectivism Scale