Self-Concept Inventories Measure More Than Just Psychological Traits
2023
Self-Concept Inventories Measure More Than Just Psychological TraitsSelf-concept, broadly defined, represents the totality of beliefs about oneself, often paraphrased as the answer to the question of "Who am I?".Although there are many theories about the nature of self-concept and its development, strong evidence supports the view that self-concept is multidimensional and a powerful predictor of life outcomes [1-5].To capture the complexity of such broad beliefs, researchers have developed numerous instruments designed to measure multiple aspects of self [6].Prominent among such multidimensional measures are the Self-Description Questionnaires developed by Herbert Marsh [7-9] and Self-Perception Profiles developed by Susan Harter and colleagues [10][11][12][13]. What do Self-Concept Inventories Really Measure?Although perceptions of self can certainly change over time, most components of self-concept measured within self-concept inventories are expected to remain reasonably stable, especially over short time intervals.That is, these measures are presumed to measure psychological traits rather than states.However, in practice, scores from such measures likely reflect a combination of stable traits, fleeting states, and other unrelated effects [14].To separate these influences on scores, researchers often employ structural equation modeling techniques based on latent state-trait-theory [15][16][17][18]. Empirical ExamplesFor a recent presentation at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, colleagues and I [19] applied latent state-trait theory procedures when analyzing scores obtained from large samples of college students who completed the Self-Description Questionnaire-III (SDQ-III; Marsh, 1992c; n=1790; [9]) or Self-Perception Profile for College Students (SPPCS; (Neemann and Harter, 2012; n=821; [12]) on two occasions separated by a week.