Self-acceptance: The Evaluative Component of the Self-concept Construct

Abstract

The validity of the construct self-acceptance was tested to map the evaluative dimension of self-concept. Three constructs—self-acceptance, self-description, and acceptance of others—were each measured by seven methods (checklist, rating scale, sentence completion, forced-choice questionnaire, semantic differential, TAT, and Q-sort) to create a multitrait-multimethod matrix of intercorrelations. Instruments were either selected from the literature or developed by the author and were administered in counterbalanced order to 137 individuals ranging in age from 14 to 82. The average convergent validity values were .55 for self-acceptance, .42 for self-description, and .41 for acceptance of others. Both of the self-constructs had strong discriminant validity from acceptance of others; the average correlation of .22 between self-acceptance and acceptance of others was consistent with their theoretical relationship. Self-acceptance was only slightly discriminated from self-description (convergent validity coefficient of .55 compared to average discriminant correlation of .41). Although some additional evidence of discriminant validity exists in the patterns of correlation with age and other constructs, self-acceptance and self-description were not as distinct as the semantic definitions of the constructs imply.