The aim of this study was to examine the relations among self-talk, self-consciousness, and self-knowledge through an exploratory principal component analysis and to test the hypothesis that only the functional and reflective aspects of self-consciousness contribute to self-knowledge. A self-report questionnaire including 6 scales assessing different aspects of self-talk, self-consciousness, and self-knowledge was administered to 203 German undergraduate university students. A principal component analysis of the scales yielded a two-factor solution, supporting the distinction between functional and dysfunctional self-consciousness. In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, only functional self-consciousness was a significant predictor of self-knowledge. Limitations of the present measures of inner speech are addressed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BryantF. B.VarnoldP. R. (1995) Principal-components analysis and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. In GrimmL. G.YarnoldP. R. (Eds.), Reading and understanding multivariate statistics. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
2.
BurnkrantR. E.PageT. J. (1984) A modification of the Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss self-consciousness scales. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 629–637.
3.
DavisM. H.FranzoiS. L. (1991) Self-awareness and self-consciousness. In DerlegaV. J.WinsteadB. A.JonesW. H. (Eds.), Personality: contemporary theory and research. Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall. Pp. 314–347.
4.
DuncanR. M.CheyneJ. A. (1999) Incidence and functions of self-reported private speech in young adults: a self-verbalization questionnaire. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 31, 133–136.
5.
Eckert-NowackM. (1988) Selbstkenntnis: Etikett für die kontrollierbare Person? [Self-knowledge as determinant of how a person is perceived: a neglected analogy to a favorite concept]. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Abteilung Psychologie, Universitaet Bielefeld, Bielefeld.
6.
HigginsE. T. (1996) The “self-digest”: self-knowledge serving self-regulatory functions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1062–1083.
7.
HixonJ. G.SwannW. B. (1993) When does introspection bear fruit? Self-reflection, self-insight, and interpersonal choices. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 35–43.
8.
HoyerJ. (2000a) Der Fragebogen zur Dysfunktionalen und Funktionalen Selbstaufmerksamkeit (DFS): Theoretisches Konzept und Befunde zur Reliabilitaet und Validitaet [Questionnaire of dysfunctional and functional self-consciousness: theoretical concept, reliability, and validity]. Diagnostica, 46, 140–148.
HoyerJ.KleinA. (2000) Self-reflection and well-being: is there a healthy amount of introspection?Psychological Reports, 86, 135–141.
11.
HoyerJ.KunstH. (2001) Selbstaufmerksamkeit und “Selbstkenntnis” im SAM-Fragebogen [Private self-consciousness and self-knowledge in a German version of the private self-consciousness scale]. Zeitschrift für Differentielle und Diagnostische Psychologie, 22, 111–117.
12.
MerzJ. (1986) SAF: Fragebogen zur Messung dispositioneller Selbstaufmerksamkeit [Questionnaire for the measurement of dispositional self-consciousness]. Diagnostica, 32, 142–152.
13.
MorinA. (1993) Self-talk and self-awareness: on the nature of the relation. The Journal of Mind and Behavior, 14, 223–234.
14.
MorinA. (1995) Characteristics of an effective internal dialogue in the acquisition of self-information. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 15, 45–58.
15.
MorinA.EverettJ. (1990) Inner speech as a mediator of self-awareness, self-consciousness, and self-knowledge: an hypothesis. New Ideas in Psychology, 8, 337–356.
16.
MorinA.EverettJ.TurcotteI.TardifG. (1993) Le dialogue intérieur comme médicateur cognitif de la conscience de soi privée: Une measure de l'activité consistant à se parler à soi-même à propos de soi et une étude corrélationelle [Self-talk as a mediator of private self-consciousness: a measure of the activity to talk to oneself about onself and a correlational study]. La Revue Québécoise de Psychologie, 14, 3–19.
17.
RangerJ. M. (2002) Der Zusammenhang zwischen privater Sprache, Selbstaufmerksamkeit und Selbstwissen [The relations among private speech, self-consciousness, and self-knowledge]. Unpublished diploma thesis, Fachrichtung Psychologie, Univer. of the Saarland, Saarbruecken.
18.
SedikjdesC.SkowronskiJ. J. (1995) On the sources of self-knowledge: the perceived primacy of self-reflection. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 14, 244–270.
19.
SiegristM. (1995) Inner speech as a cognitive process mediating self-consciousness and inhibiting self-deception. Psychological Reports, 76, 259–265.
20.
TrapnellP. D.CampbellJ. D. (1999) Private self-consciousness and the five-factor model of personality: distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 284–304.
