An analysis of self constructs and self variables

Abstract

The attempt to study the antecedents of the meaning implicit in the various uses of the term self' by contemporary psychologists in theory and measurement is a task which has been avoided by historians to date. Examination of a range of the general psychology-psychiatry-philosophy history texts gives merely a sketch of one or two of the main trends. This state of academic under-achievement is, in part, a function of a scarcity of source material and the complexity of the material available; yet it remains remarkable in the light of the increasing amount of research time occupied by psychologists in examination of the self. This increase in research time is reflected clearly in a survey of publications listed in the complete set of the Psychological Index and in the Psychological Abstracts to date. In no year, in its publication from 1894 to 1935, does the Index list more than five works under the heading of Self. The placement of this heading itself interesting: 'Self-consciousness' appeared in the early volumes in the category of 'Consciousness' which changed in 1900 to 'Cognition'; in 1910 'Self' was included under 'Attitudes and Intellectual Activities'; while from 1915 'Self' was found in the section labelled 'Social Functions of the Individual'. Just as these changes mirror the opening up of fields in psychology so they mirror the dominant interests of those psychologists evolving concepts of self...