title: Stability within the self: a longitudinal study of the structural implications of self-discrepancy theory.
abstract: Self-discrepancy theory emphasizes the emotional significance of patterns of relations between the self-concept and ideal and ought self-guides and predicts stability within the self related to structural characteristics independent of specific self-beliefs. It was hypothesized that whereas participants' specific self-descriptions would vary substantially over time, magnitude of self-discrepancy, regulatory focus (the individual's dominant self-guide domain), and other structural features would be stable. Participants (N = 47) were recruited from 2 samples that had completed a self-belief interview and a childhood memory cued-recall task 3 years earlier (T. J. Strauman, 1990). As expected, participants' self-descriptions varied, but magnitude and type of self-discrepancy, associations between self-guide domains and childhood memories, and correlates of regulatory focus were stable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53719-1179, USA. tjstraum@facstaff.wisc.edu
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Strauman
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D019336:Cognitive Science; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003463:Cues; D004532:Ego; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment