Investigation of the relationship between self awareness, private self consciousness and self evaluation

Abstract

This study examined the effects of self awareness and private self consciousness on self evaluation. Sixty female undergraduate students completed the private self consciousness subscale developed by Fenigstein et al.i (1973)• They were then randomly assigned to either the high (N=30) or low (N=30) self awareness treatment conditions. Those placed in the high self awareness condition listened to their own taperecorded voices which was intended to increase self awareness. The remainder listened to another's taperecorded voice which was intended to decrease self awareness. All subjects first completed the ideal self evaluation form consisting of 20 randomly arranged bipolar adjective dimensions. Then, depending on the self awareness condition, subjects either listened to their own taperecorded voices or another's voice while completing the real self evaluation form consisting of the Same 20 items. The absolute difference scores between the two self evaluation forms were used as an index of the intensity of self evaluation. Self awareness significantly increased the intensity of self evaluation. This effect was especially noted on initial ,items: 1, 2, 3 and 7i providing further evidence that the effect of listening to one's own voice diminishes quickly as originally observed by Ickes et al., (1973). Private self consciousness did not have a significant overall effect, but a post hoc analysis using subjects scoring in the extremes of this subscale showed that subjects scoring higher in private self consciousness exhibited more intense self evaluation. The present findings offer tentative support for the existence of two factors of awareness which affect self evaluation. One, self awareness as a state of the individual, was indicated by a temporary increase in intense self evaluation. The other, private self consciousness as a trait of the individual, was indicated by a consistent intense effect on self evaluation.