Assimilation and Accommodation in Self-Conception: Towards a Dynamic Theory of Self-Representation

How information about the self is organized and whether information about the self is stable or not are basic issues that have generated considerable controversy. This dissertation provided a conceptual integration of discrepant finding in the literature that concern the stability of information related to the self. It proposed a methodology for examining the stable and dynamic aspects of self-knowledge within the context of an individual experiment, and developed measures with desirable psychometric properties for assessing subject's feelings regarding their achievement and social competence. The main experiment examined three hypotheses regarding how information about the self is organized in memory. The data indicate that people have a range of acceptable opinions about themselves within any given domain, and that while the particular opinion they may report at any given time may be responsive to the context in which that judgment is made, the range of opinions they endorse remains relatively stable. Specific implications for how information about the self is organized and how self-representations are utilized in the self-evaluation process are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Levine, Stephen Richard

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wyer, Robert S., Jr.

• Psychology, Social
• Psychology, Clinical
• Psychology, Personality

Identifier

(UMI)AAI9314903

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72120