Previous research has shown that scores on private self-consciousness were related to increased test-retest reliability and internal consistency of responses. To extend these findings to other measures, split-half reliability and Cronbach alpha 84 women and 27 men completed the Self-consciousness Scale and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory. It was hypothesized that subjects scoring high in private self-consciousness would show greater split-half reliability and homogeneity. The results did not support the hypotheses as scores for private self-consciousness were not significantly related to split-half reliability or homogeneity on the NEO-Five Factor Inventory. The present results, combined with previous findings, suggest that private self-consciousness is related to temporal stability of test scores but not to estimates of reliability associated with parallel forms of a test or to internal consistency.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BernsteinI. H.TengG.GarbinC. P. (1986) A confirmatory factoring of the Self-consciousness Scale. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 21, 459–475.
2.
BrittT. W. (1992) The Self-consciousness Scale: on the stability of the three-factor structure. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 748–755.
3.
CarverC. S.GlassD. C. (1976) The Self-consciousness Scale: a discriminative validity study. Journal of Personality Assessment, 40, 169–172.
CostaP. T.McCraeR. R.HollandJ. L. (1984) Personality and vocational interests in an adult sample, Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 390–400.
6.
CostaP. T.WidigerT. A. (1994) Introduction: personality disorders and the five-factor model of personality. In CostaP. T.Jr.WidigerT. A. (Eds.), Personality disorders and the five factor model of personality. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Pp. 1–12.
7.
CronbachL. J. (1970) Essentials of psychological testing. (3rd ed.) New York: Harper & Row.
8.
DaviesM. F. (1982) Correlates of self-consciousness and the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire. Journal of Psychology, 111, 123–128.
9.
DaviesM. F. (1984) Conceptual and empirical comparisons between self-consciousness and field dependence-independence. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 58, 543–549.
10.
FenigsteinA.ScheierM. F.BussA. H. (1975) Public and private self-consciousness: assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 522–527.
11.
FranzoiS. L. (1983) Self-concept differences as a function of private self-consciousness and social anxiety. Journal of Research in Personality, 17, 275–287.
12.
FromingW. J.CarverC. S. (1981) Divergent influences of private and public self-consciousness in a compliance paradigm. Journal of Research in Personality, 15, 159–171.
13.
HjelleL. A.BernardM. (1994) Private self-consciousness and the retest reliability of self-reports. Journal of Research in Personality, 28, 52–67.
14.
MarshallG. N.WortmanC. B.VickersR. R.KusulasJ. W.HervigL. K. (1994) The five-factor model of personality as a framework for personality-health research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 278–286.
15.
McFarlandS. C.SparksC. M. (1985) Age, education and the internal consistency of personality scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1692–1702.
16.
NasbyW. (1989) Private self-consciousness, self-awareness and the reliability of self-reports. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 950–957.
17.
PiedmontR. L.WeinsteinH. P. (1994) Predicting supervisor ratings of job performance using the NEO Personality Inventory, Journal of Psychology, 128, 255–265.
18.
ScheierM. F.BussA. H.BussD. M. (1978) Self-consciousness, self-report of aggressiveness, and aggression. Journal of Research in Personality, 12, 133–140.
19.
ScheierM. F.CarverC. S. (1985) The Self-consciousness Scale: a revised version for use with general populations. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 15, 687–699.
20.
TokarD. M.SwansonJ. L. (1995) Evaluation of the correspondence between Holland's vocational personality typology and the five-factor model of personality. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 46, 89–108.
21.
TrullT. J. (1992) DSM-III-R personality disorders and the five-factor model of personality: an empirical comparison. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 553–560.
22.
TrullT. J.SherK. J. (1994) Relationship between the five-factor model of personality and Axis I disorders in a nonclinical sample, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 350–360.
23.
TurnerR. G. (1978) Consistency, self-consciousness, and the predictive validity of typical and maximal personality measures, Journal of Research in Personality, 12, 117–132.
24.
TurnerR. G.ScheierM. F.CarverC. S.IckesW. (1978) Correlates of self-consciousness. Journal of Personality Assessment, 42, 258–289.
25.
WatsonP. J.HeadrickD.McKinneyJ. (1989) Dimensions of private self-consciousness and attributional style. Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 367–369.
26.
WeinbergS. L.GoldbergK. P. (1990) Statistics for the behavioral sciences. New York: Cambridge Univer. Press.
