Bibliography: pages 173-181. / The self concept is a critical variable in the overall development and functioning of hearing impaired pupils, yet the findings of research studies indicate that pupils may have difficulty forming a realistic, positive self concept. The consequences of the hearing loss appear to contribute to lowered self-esteem. The accumulated effect of unresolved psychosocial developmental stages may increase the probability of identity confusion in adolescence. The results of research on the self concept of the hearing impaired has been inconclusive and difficult to interpret partly due to the use of inappropriate self concept scales. There is a need for a relevant test which assesses pupils' strengths and weaknesses in dimensions of the self concept. In this dissertation, the 'Self Concept Scale for the Hearing Impaired' (SSHI) is developed with the purpose of designing an appropriate self concept scale specifically for use on hearing impaired pupils between the ages of 11 and 19 years. During the construction and administration of the SSHI, an attempt was made to control for confounding variables known to influence responses of pupils and to distort scores obtained. The SSHI was constructed primarily according to the homogenous-keying approach. Test-retest reliability coefficients were computed over a 4 to 5 week period for 198 pupils in three schools for the hearing impaired in the Western Cape.

The purpose of this project was to evaluate from the student point of view the feasibility and desirability of self-awareness testing for first year School of Social Work students. Originally, the authors had hoped to arrange and evaluate mental well-being interviews for a significant sampling of students, using as a model the voluntary, private, completely confidential interviews that were conducted at McGill University's School of Social Work during 1961-1963. However, the task of funding offcampus professional interviews proved insurmountable. Therefore, the authors turned to objective personality testing with individual interpretive interviews conducted by counselors at Portland State University's Counseling Center.

Family functioning has been an important part of adolescent self-image formation, according to many family therapy theorists. The aspects of family functioning that are the most positive in influencing self-image formation have not been specifically diagnosed, particularly as they apply to adoptive and foster families. The present research tied together family adaptability, cohesion, and communication from the Circumplex Model with self-image and analyzed the effect these aspects of family functioning had on a subjective measure of self-image as reported by the adolescent. The sense of family satisfaction that the adolescent had was also measured, and it was compared with the self-image of the adolescent as was the number of previous foster care placements for those adolescents who had been in foster care prior to adoption or who were presently in foster care. Fifty-five adolescents (12 adoptees, 18 in foster care, and 25 living with their biological families) were administered the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire, FACES III and the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale. Hypotheses included: (a) adolescents across the three family types who were rated as extreme or mid-range on the cohesion and adaptability aspects of the Circumplex Model would have lower self-image scores than those who were rated as balanced; (b) adolescents who achieved a higher family satisfaction score (distance from the center of the Circumplex Model) would have a higher self-image score than those with a lower family satisfaction score; (c) adolescents who report higher levels of mother and father communication will have higher self-image scores than those with lower levels of communication; (d) adolescents with two or fewer foster care placements would have higher self-image scores than those with three or more placements. Statistical significance was found when the mother communication was divided into high and low categories and compared in an analysis of variance across the three family groupings. Perceived family cohesion was also found to be statistically significant in an analysis of variance across the three family groupings, and the interaction of family type by family cohesion (balanced, mid-range, or extrane) across the groupings was also statistically significant. The other variables related to family functioning did not prove to be statistically significant. / Ph. D.

This meta-analysis investigated the efficacy of counseling to favorably change self-concept; the effectiveness of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS) in measuring self-concept change; and whether the TSCS is consistent with other self-concept instruments in measuring self-concept change when used in the same research study. The meta-analysis inclusion criteria were: one or more psychotherapy or counseling treatments administered to the subjects; comparison of two groups, including an alternate treatment or control condition; investigated self-concept change; pre-post-test measurements of self-concept dependent variable were reported; sample was randomized and/or matched for equivalence; and sufficient information was reported to calculate or reconstruct an effect size.

In a study investigating the ability of subjects and their close friends or relatives (close-others) to recognize subject personality test results under conditions which controlled for the Barnum effect, 64 male and female undergraduate psychology students were administered the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). Each subject later attempted to choose his or her own unidentified CPI profile from among three, and a close-other of the subject independently made the same selection. It was found that 57.81% of subjects and 45.31% of close others were able to correctly identify subject profiles; these results were significant at the .0001 and .05 levels respectively. The 53.12% rate of agreement between subjects and close-others in profile selection also proved significant, p < .001. In contrast with results from a previous study (Carlson, 1985), it was found that subject self-perception and CPI description correspond to a highly significant ·degree.

This study was conducted to investigate whether or not there were differences in self-concept between elementary grade students participating in the ESEA, Title I resource program and students not participating in this program in Loudoun County, Virginia. Possible differences in student self-concept were identified through the use of the total self-concept score and related subscores produced from a factor analysis conducted on the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. These subscores were self-appreciation, self-assuredness, social adaptability, adequacy in school, and personal adequacy. Further relationships between self-concept and types of classrooms were investigated through analyzing student data according to these personal characteristics: sex, race, grade, and socio-economic status. This study also investigated factors in the school setting to determine which factors contributed most significantly to the student's self-concept. Factors investigated were classroom environment and teacher influences. Variables relating to classroom environment included (1) individualization, and (2) variety of materials and activities. Variables relating to teacher influences included (1) warmth, (2) provision for freedom, and (3) feedback. Students selected for the sample in this study were third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade educationally disadvantaged students enrolled in eight elementary schools in Loudoun County, Virginia. The resource or experimental group of students had participated in the ESEA, Title I resource program for at least one year, while the non-resource or control group participated only in the regular county educational program. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) was used to assess student self-concept. The McDaniel Observer Rating Scales were used to assess classroom environment and teacher influences. Significant differences (p<.05) were observed through the use of ANOVA and t-Tests. Results indicated that the self-concept of resource students was significantly more positive on the subscore’s self-assuredness and adequacy in school; on the other hand, the self-concept of non-resource students was significantly more positive on the subscore’s self-appreciation and personal adequacy. In addition, the self-concept subscore’s self-assuredness and adequacy in school were significant only in classrooms rated high in individualization, wide in variety, and high in teacher warmth; the subscores self-appreciation and personal adequacy were significant only in classrooms rated low in individualization and teacher warmth and feedback. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible relationships between clothing satisfaction and self-concept of a select group of women age 65 and older. An increase in the number of elderly women in the population with special clothing needs led to the development of this research. Past research indicates that elderly women are dissatisfied with purchased clothing, yet prior to this study it was not known if or how the dissatisfactions were related to their self-concepts. The sample consisted of 81 female residents of a retirement community in Salem, Virginia, and members of senior centers located in Floyd, Christiansburg, and Radford, Virginia. A questionnaire was developed for this research because a suitable one did not exist. It consisted of demographic variables, clothing satisfaction statements, and self-concept statements. Demographic data were collected to describe the sample and to compare it to the elderly population. Clothing satisfaction statements assessed satisfaction with clothing styles, fit, color, acquisition, cost, and care. An adaptation of Fitts' Tennessee Self Concept Scale was utilized to measure physical, personal, and social components of the self. A frequency distribution was used to tabulate the data. A correlation analysis determined the relationships between clothing satisfaction variables and self-concept variables. The results of this study indicated that elderly women are dissatisfied with clothing on the mass market. Significant relationships were found between total self-concept and satisfaction with clothing styles, between social self and satisfaction with clothing cost, and between physical self and overall clothing satisfaction. It was found that no relationship existed between overall clothing satisfaction and total self-concept, but the researcher concluded that because of the significant relationships clothing satisfaction indirectly influences self-concept. / M.S.

The aims of the present thesis were two fold. The first aim was to investigate the relationship between self-referential and emotional processing. The second aim was to investigate the extent to which self-referential processing is altered as a function of mood. In order to address these two aims, a variety of behavioural and physiological measures were recorded and a new methodology was employed in the following experimental chapters. The aim of experiment one was to investigate how non-dysphoric and dysphoric individuals evaluate the emotional valence and self-referential content of word stimuli at a behavioural level. A self-positivity bias was identified in non-dysphoric individuals, positive words were rated as self-referential and negative words were rated as non-self-referential. Compared to non-dysphoric individuals, dysphoric individualsâ evaluations of self-reference but not emotional valence were altered. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were employed in experiment two to investigate self-referential processing at a neural level. A two stage model of processing was identified in which, an evaluation of emotional valence was found to occur prior to an interaction between self-reference and emotional valence. A self-positivity bias was identified in the ERP component known as the N400. ERP waves were more negative going to self negative and non-self-positive words when compared to self-positive and non-self-negative words. This bias was explained in terms of the semantic mismatch hypothesis. The aim of experiment three was to investigate how the neural processing of self-referential and emotional information is altered as a function of mood. Differences between nondysphoric and dysphoric individuals were identified during the early stages of ii processing in an emotion task. Between group differences were identified during the later stages of processing in a self-reference task, around 400 ms. Skin conductance and heart rate were employed in experiment four to examine autonomic responses during self-referential and emotional processing in healthy individuals. Both decision-making tasks were found to elicit similar physiological responses. These findings were taken to suggest that a large component of self-referential processing involves the processing of emotional information. Finally, the aim of experiment five was to investigate if person-referent processing was altered during the experience of a negative mood. The behavioural and neural responses of non-dysphoric and dysphoric individuals were compared across self-referent and other-referent decision-making tasks. Between group differences were specific to the self-reference task at the behavioural level. However, group differences were identified in both the self-referent and other-referent tasks at the neural level. The results provide partial support for the hypothesis that negative mood is associated with specific impairments in self-referential processing. Overall the results of the present thesis illustrate that the processing of emotional information plays a large role in self-referential decision-making. Furthermore, the N400 was found be involved in this type of decision-making at the semantic level. Negative mood was associated with greater changes in self-referential processing than in other forms of emotional or person-referent processing. In the final chapter, a two stage model is proposed to account for self-referential processing. The implications of this model are discussed in terms of two macro-cognitive theories, interacting cognitive subsystems (ICS) and SPAARs. Finally, the limitations and future directions for developing this line of research are outlined.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has been asserted by proponents of the technique as being superior to standard paper-and-pencil measurements in terms of the reliability and validity of the information obtained; however, this claim has not yet been fully evaluated in the literature. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate one aspect of this assertion by comparing the utility of EMA and retrospective measures of depressive symptoms in predicting health-relevant biological and behavioral outcomes. It was hypothesized that (1) the EMA measure will have better predictive utility when examining objective sleep quality (a biological outcome), and that (2) the retrospective measure will have better predictive utility when examining blood donation intention (a behavioral outcome). Ninety-six undergraduate females participated in this 2-week study. Depressive symptoms were measured momentarily and retrospectively using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). The biological outcome was assessed by actigraphy, whereas the behavioral outcome was measured via a self-report questionnaire. Unfortunately, it was not possible to fully test these hypotheses due to the failure to observe relationships between the predictor variables and the outcomes. The reported results, although limited, did not provide support for the hypotheses. Supplemental analyses revealed a moderate to high amount of shared variance between the EMA and retrospective measures, a similar extent of random error in both measures, and potentially a greater degree of systematic error in the retrospective measure. Due to the paucity of literature examining the claim of superior reliability and validity of EMA versus retrospective measures, as well as the failure of the current study to evaluate this assertion sufficiently, it appears that this claim remains unfounded. Therefore, suggestions for future research are provided.