Public and Private Self-Consciousness: Assessment and Theory.

A scale was constructed to assess individual differences in self-consciou sness. Norms and test-retest reliability are presented. Factor analysis of the scale revealed that self-consciousness has three components: public, private, and social anxiety. The relationships among these three factors are examined. The scale was found useful in research on social behavior, and its implications for research and therapy are discussed. Self Jawareness is a central concept in several divergent approaches to behavior and life. In psychoanalysi s, increased awareness of the self is both a tool and a goal. Self-examination enables the person to recognize his unconscious thoughts, motives, and defenses; one result of the therapy is increased insight, i.e., greater self-awareness. Rogerian therapy, existential analysis, and a variety of other insight therapies have also emphasized the importance of attending to and understanding one's inner thoughts and feelings. Relatively newer traditions, such as transactional analysis, encounter groups, and sensitivity training, have stressed the value of getting in touch with oneself and recognizing how one's behavior affects others. The quest for self-insight may also be seen in the widespread interest in the practice of meditation. Previous interest in self-awarenes s has derived from either a therapeutic orientation or a philosophical approach to life. Recently, self-awareness has been approached from an entirely different perspective—that of social psychology. Argyle (1969) has speculated about the impact of self ^awareness on social interaction, and Duval and Wicklund (1972) have elaborated an entire theory of selfawareness. Laboratory research generated by Duval and Wicklund's theory has examined both the effects of stimuli that direct attention toward the self (mirrors and cameras) Allan Fenigstein is now at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, and Michael F. Scheier is now at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Requests for reprints should be sent to Arnold H. Buss, Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712.