Responding to Self-Consciousness: An Examination of Everyday and Dream Episodes
Ephrem G. Pano, Michelle C. Hilscher, Gerald C. Cupchik
Imagination, Cognition and Personality October 1, 2008 DOI: 10.2190/ic.28.2.e (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 89 |
| Population | Students from the University of Toronto |
| Measures | 20-item self-consciousness questionnaire |
| Key findings | Factor analysis of self-consciousness questionnaire responses revealed six factors, with public and private self-consciousness dominant. Everyday self-conscious episodes yielded five factors (e.g., academic performance versus physical appearance, social anxiety, athletic performance, and two coping strategies), while dream episodes yielded three factors (e.g., coping with negative bodily arousal to assert oneself academically, withdrawing socially to avoid appearance-related negative emotions). Meaningful correlations linked everyday factors with questionnaire and dream factors, demonstrating complementary relations between quantitative and qualitative assessments. |
Abstract
Eighty-nine students from the University of Toronto completed a 20-item self-consciousness questionnaire. They also provided a written account of a self-conscious (e.g., embarrassing) episode from everyday life as well as a self-conscious episode from a dream. Factor analysis of the questionnaire responses revealed 6 factors, with public and private self-consciousness emerging as the dominant factors. The everyday and dream episodes were examined qualitatively and 8 categories were derived the frequency of which could be numerically assessed in each protocol and factor analyzed. For the everyday life episodes, 5 factors revealed concerns of undergraduates related to academic performance versus physical appearance, social anxiety, and athletic performance, as well as 2 coping strategies. Three factors emerged from the dream episodes with the first revealing how students imagined coping with negative bodily arousal in order to assert themselves in academic situations. The second factor showed how students imagined withdrawing from social situations so as to avoid negative emotions associated with self-consciousness related to appearance. Meaningful correlations were found relating factors from the everyday episodes with the self-consciousness questionnaire as well as the dream episodes. These findings demonstrate complementary relations between quantitative and qualitative (i.e., narrative-based) assessments of self-consciousness.