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Cited by 2,088Personality Traits and PsychologyCultural Differences and ValuesIdentity, Memory, and Therapy

Self-concept clarity: Measurement, personality correlates and cultural boundaries

Campbell, Jennifer D., Trapnell, Paul D., Heine, Steven J., Katz, Ilana M., Lavallee, Loraine F., Lehman, Darrin R.·1996·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
DOI 10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.141
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Abstract

Self-concept clarity (SCC) references a structural spect oftbe self-concept: the extent to which self-beliefs are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and stable. This article reports the SCC Scale and examines (a) its correlations with self-esteem (SE), the Big Five dimensions, and self-focused attention (Study l); (b) its criterion validity (Study 2); and (c) its cultural boundaries (Study 3). Low SCC was independently associated with high Neuroticism, low SE, low Conscien-tiousness, low Agreeableness, chronic self-analysis, low internal state awareness, and a ruminative form of self-focused attention. The SCC Scale predicted unique variance in 2 external criteria: the stability and consistency of self-descriptions. Consistent with theory on Eastern and Western self-construals, Japanese participants exhibited lower levels of SCC and lower correlations between SCC and SE than did Canadian participants. Within the last couple of decades, psychologists ' view of the self-concept has undergone a dramatic transformation (Markus & Wurf, 1987). Early researchers treated the self-concept as a unitary, monolithic entity--a stable, generalized view of the self--and typically focused their research efforts on a single as-pect of the self-concept, self-esteem. Contemporary research-ers, in contrast, rely on a multifaceted, ynamic construal in which the self-concept is defined as a cognitive schema--an or-ganized knowledge structure that contains traits, values, epi-sodic and semantic memories about the self and controls the processing of self-relevant information (e.g., Greenwald & Prat-

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Crossref · 10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.141

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Authors
Campbell, J. D., Trapnell, P. D., Heine, S. J., Katz, I. M., Lavallee, L. F., & Lehman, D. R.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
1996-01
Volume
70
Issue
1
Pages
141-156
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
DOI
10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.141
OpenAlex
W2155241100
Cited by
2,088
References
102
Citations by year
2026: 162 · 2025: 148 · 2024: 128 · 2023: 111 · 2022: 150 · 2021: 106 · 2020: 153 · 2019: 120 · 2018: 112 · 2017: 96 · 2016: 85 · 2015: 73 · 2014: 72 · 2013: 69 · 2012: 57
FWCI
15.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2010-07-12)
Open access
closed
Locations
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
Keywords
self-concept clarity, self-concept, self-esteem, Big Five personality traits, self-focus, rumination, self-analysis, self-construal, East-West comparison, criterion validity

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