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Abstract

The study addresses the question of the psychometric properties of Importance ratings as a measure of self‐schemata and compares it with Trait Level measures using a somewhat different methodology from that of Burke, Kraut and Dworkin (1984). Subjects rated themselves on each of ten trait scales and also rated the personal significance of each trait. Furthermore, subjects were asked to rank order acts with regard to how representative they would be for their own behaviour in particular situations. The experiment was repeated after 2 weeks. Conclusions similar to those of Burke et al. (1984) were reached. Evidence for the discriminant validity of Importance ratings as measures of self‐schemata was weak. Furthermore, Trait Level measures predicted schema‐related behaviour better than Importance ratings. Future directions in research on self‐schemata are discussed in the light of these findings.

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Self‐schemata: Ambiguous operationalizations of an important concept

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