The development of self-concept: psychological aspects of the development of evaluative coherence of self-concept

Cilj istraživanja bio je provjerirti učinak strukturalnih (broj, centralnost i koherencija pozitivnih i negativnih elemenata pojma o sebi) i motivacijskih (motivi samouljepšavanja, samopotvrđivanja, točnosti) aspekata pojma o sebi na dobne razlike u evaluativnoj koherenciji pojma o sebi, sukladno postavkama modela „društva pojma o sebi“ (eng. „Society of self“ model). U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 660 osoba, od 13 do 22 godine. Sudionici su ispunjavali Upitnike pojma o sebi (Marinić, 2014). Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su kako postoji slaba do umjerena međusobna povezanost svih varijabli na svim dobnim skupinama. Motiv samouljepšavanja i centralnost pozitivnih elemenata pojma o sebi doprinose većoj evaluativnoj koherenciji pojma o sebi na osnovnoškolskom uzorku. Kod srednjoškolaca posjedovanje malog broja važnih pozitivnih osobina/elemenata pojma o sebi, niže koherencije, vodi većoj evaluativnoj koherenciji. Konačno, rezultati na studentima su pokazali dominantnost strukturalnih aspekata nad motivacijskim, pri čemu veći broj manje centralnih negativnih osobina i slabija međusobna povezanost pozitivnih osobina pojma o sebi vodi boljem predviđanju evaluativne koherencije. Generalno, istraživanje je pokazalo kako strukturalni aspekti bolje predviđaju, tj. imaju veći učinak na evaluativnu koherenciju pojma o sebi, a ne motivacijski. Također, motiv samopotvrđivanja nije se pokazao značajnim u predikciji evalutivne koherencije na srednjoškolskom i studentskom uzorku.Aim of the research was to examine the effects of the structural (number, centrality and coherence of positive and negative self-concept elements) and motivational (self-enhancement, self-verification, and accuracy motive) self-concept aspects with the respect to age differences in evaluative coherence of the self-concept, according to „Society of self“ model. The study contained 660 subjects from the age of 13 to 22. Participants completed Self-concept questionnaires (Marinić, 2014). Study results have shown that there is low to moderate, yet significant correlation between all variables on every age group. Self-enhancement motive and centrality of positive self-concept aspects contribute to larger evaluative coherence of self-concept on the primary school subjects. High school students reported that small number of important positive aspects of the self concept which are non-coherent lead to greater evaluative coherence. Furthermore, student results have shown the dominance of the structural aspects over motivational self-concept aspects, wherein greater number of less central negative self aspects and non coherent positive self aspects lead to better evaluative coherence prediction. In general, the study has shown that structural aspects are better in prediction, i.e. have greater impact on evaluative coherence of the self over motivational aspects. Finally, self-verification motive doesn’t predict evaluative coherence on high school and student sample