PSYCHOLOGY PRACTICAL (CLASS XII)

SELF CONCEPT QUESTIONNAIRE

PURPOSE

To assess the self understanding or self concept of the subject using Self Concept Questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION

BASIC CONCEPT

Self concept is a dominant element in personality, therefore measurement of self concept is essential. The
difficulty in conducting research in this area is that the concept of self is not very clearly defined.

One's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a

collection of beliefs about oneself that includes elements such as academic performance, gender
roles and sexuality and racial identity. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to "Who am I?".

Self-concept is made up of one's self-schemas, and interacts with self-esteem, self-knowledge, and the social
self to form the self as whole. It includes the past, present, and future selves, where future selves (or possible
selves) represent individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, or what they
are afraid of becoming.
Psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were the first to establish the notion of self-concept. Rogers
(1951) defined self concept as “an organized configuration of perceptions of self which are admissible to
awareness.” Self concept has been referred by Lowe (1961) as one’s attitude towards self, and by Paderson
(1965) as an organized configuration of perceptions, beliefs, feeling, attitudes and values which the individual
views as a part of characteristics of himself.”

The self-categorization theory developed by John Turner states that the self-concept consists of at least two
"levels": a personal identity and a social one. Saraswat and Gaur (1981) described self concept as “ the self
concept is the individual’s way of looking at himself. It also signifies his way of thinking, feeling and behaving.”

Researchers debate over when self-concept development begins. Some assert that gender stereotypes and
expectations set by parents for their children impact children's understanding of themselves by approximately
age 3 Others suggest that self-concept develops later, around age 7 or 8, when children are developmentally
prepared to interpret their own feelings and abilities, as well as feedback they receive from parents, teachers,
and peers. Despite differing opinions about the onset of self-concept development, researchers agree on the
importance of one’s self-concept, which influences people’s behaviors and cognitive and emotional outcomes
including academic achievement, levels of happiness, anxiety, social integration, self-esteem, and life-
satisfaction.
HISTORY OF THE TEST

The Self Concept Questionnaire was standardized on 1000 students of 20 High Secondary Schools of Delhi
pertaining to Delhi Administration and Central Schools. The students were from class IXth and Xth ranging
from 14 to 18 years of both sexes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST

This inventory provides six different dimensions of self concept. It also gives total self concept score. The
dimensions are------

(1) Physical (A)

Individual’s view of their body, health, physical appearance and strength.

(2) Social (B)

Individual’s sense of worth.

(3) Temperamental (C)

Individual’s view of their prevailing emotional state or predominance of a particular kind of emotional reaction.

(4) Educational (D)

Individual’s view of themselves in relation to school, teachers and extra co curricular activities.

(5) Moral (E)

Individual’s estimation of their moral worth, right and wrong activities.

(6) Intellectual (F)

Individual’s awareness of their intelligence and capacity of problem solving and judgments.

The inventory contains 48 items. Each dimension contains 8 items. Each item has five alternatives. Responses
are obtained on the test booklet itself. There is no time limit but generally 20 minutes are sufficient to complete
the test.

METHOD

PRELIMINARIES OF THE SUBJECT

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Physical and Mental Conditions:

Date and Time:

MATERIAL REQUIRED

Self Concept Questionnaire booklet, response sheet, manual, scoring key, paper and pencil.

PROCEDURE

(a) Arrangement of material

Lab conditions were checked if they were accurate for the test to begin. The response sheet and the pencil
were kept ready in front of the subject’s desk. The manual and the scoring key were kept ready on the test
administer’s side ready.

(b) Rapport formation and Instructions

Subject was called to the lab and made to sit comfortably on a chair. A small conversation was done with
the subject to make him or her feel at ease. After that the subject was asked to fill the particulars given in
the form. Then the instructions were read out from the form slowly and clearly. Then the following
instructions were given to the subject.

“On the following page there are 48 questions and against each question there are five responses. You
have to read them carefully and put a tick on any one of the five responses given against each question,
which you think describes you well.

There is no right or wrong answer. The right answer is only what you feel about yourself. You have to mark
only one answer. An illustration is given below. There is no time limit but you should answer it as soon as
possible.”

(c) Precautions

(1) It should be ensured that the lab conditions are accurate enough for successful administration of the test.

(2) The test must be started only after the subject has clearly and completely understood the instructions.

(3)The test should not be referred as a “self concept questionnaire” at any point of time.

(4) The example in the beginning of the test booklet should be done.

(5) It should be ensured that the subject does not devote too much time while answering a question.

(6) It should be ensured that all the questions were answered.

(7) It should be checked that the subject does not mark twice for any question.

(d) Administration

After making sure that the subject has understood all the instructions, the administration of the test was started.
The subject was asked to start answering questions. The subject was again reminded of the time limit and not
to leave any questions unanswered.

After the subject had finished the response sheet was taken and then, the subject was asked to write down the
introspective report.

(e) Introspective Report of the Subject

The test was an easy one. It included questions regarding my ideas, values, beliefs and thinking. There were
questions related to my physical appearance, emotions, cognitive processes and education. And answering
them was an interesting task.

(f) Scoring of the Test

The respondent will provide one alternative out of five responses which describes him/her best. The responses
are arranged in such a way that scoring system for all items will remain the same i.e. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 whether the
items are positive or negative. If the respondent has marked first alternative the score is 5, for second
alternative score is 4, for third alternative score is 3, for the fourth alternative score is 2 and for the fifth
alternative score is 1.The summated score of all 48 items will provide total self concept score of an individual. A
high score on the inventory indicates high self concept where as low score shows low self concept. Now add all
the scores of eight items given in that column, this will give you score for that particular dimension.

DRAW BOTH THE TABLES ON TWO DIFFERENT BLANK SHEETS-----

1.

SELF CONCEPT CATEGORY

DIMENSION SCORE
33 to 40 High self concept
25 to 32 Above average self concept
17 to 24 Average self concept
9 to 16 Below average self concept
Up to 8 Low self concept

2.

RAW SCORE INTERPRETATION

193 to 240 High self concept
145 to 192 Above average self concept
97 to 144 Average self concept
49 to 96 Below average self concept
1 to 48 Low self concept