IMAGINATION, COGNITION AND PERSONALITY, Vol. 15(1) 17-43, 1995-96
THE MULTIFACETED NATURE OF
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS: CONCEPTUALIZATION,
MEASUREMENT, AND CONSEQUENCES*
ELISHEVA BEN-ARTZI
MARIO MIKULINCER
HANANIA GLAUBMAN
Bar-llan University, Israel
ABSTRACT
The present work involves the reconceptualization of self-consciousness as a
multifaceted process. In the first study, subjects were asked to freely describe
the contents of their thoughts when thinking about themselves. Content
analyses resulted in the definition of specific categories of self-consciousness
which were found to overlap partly with basic dimensions ofthe self-concept.
In the second study, a valid and reliable self-report questionnaire of self-
consciousness was developed, comprising fourteen separate factors. In the
third study, different patterns of self-consciousness were found to be asso-
ciated with depression, anxiety, self-disclosure, and loneliness. The theoreti-
cal and empirical implications of conceptualizing self-consciousness as a
multiple-content phenomenon are discussed.
Over the past several years considerable attention has been devoted to the study of
individual differences in dispositional self-consciousness and their role in mediat-
ing psychological functioning. Fenigstein, Scheier and Buss defined Self-
Consciousness as the habitual tendency to be aware of covert self-aspects. and to
+'This research is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted by Elisheva Ben-Artzi to Bar-Dan
University. Portions of this work were presented at the 1993 meeting of the Israeli Psychological
Association in Ramat-Gan, Israel.
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© 1995, Baywood Publishing ce., Inc.
doi: 10.2190/AV07-Y0K1-8D71-FBAA
http://baywood.com