| dc.description.abstract | Self-discrepancy theory postulates that individuals who experience selfdiscrepancies
feel uncomfortable, or disturbed, and may manifest emotional
problems such as depression, dejection or agitation. This study examined selfdiscrepancies
in relation to self-reported dejection, agitation, dependent
depression and self-critical depression. The study also examined sex differences
in the relationships between self-discrepancies and these different emotional
states. Undergraduate students (96 males and 119 females) completed the
Selves Questionnaire to measure self-discrepancies, the Emotions Questionnaire
to measure dejection and agitation affects, and the Depressive Experiences
Questionnaire to measure the dependent and self-critical forms of depression.
Four different self-discrepancies were computed from the Selves Questionnaire;
actual/ideal/own(AIOW), actual/ought/own(AOOW), actual/ideal/other(AIOT),
and actual/ought/other (AOOT). The results using partial correlations
controlling for the remaining self-discrepancies and the other dependent
variable (either dejection or agitation and dependency or self-criticism) showed
that only AOOT discrepancies predicted agitation in women, and none of selfdiscrepancies
predicted dejection or agitation in men. The dependent and selfcritical
types of depression correlated with some types of self-discrepancies
differently in men and women. These differences suggest that the determinants of these negative affects may, to a limited degree, be different in men and
women. | |
