The Self Consciousness Scale: A normative instrument for use with elderly populations
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to validate The Self-Consciousness Scale for use with older populations. The Self-Consciousness Scale is a 22-item questionnaire, which measures differences in the tendency to attend to the more covert, hidden aspects of the self. Research in the field of Aging suggests that there may be a universal tendency to think about the self as aging occurs. This study addresses the psychometric issues of The Self-Consciousness Scale as an instrument which might be used in the study of Aging. The scale was administered to 255 subjects over the age of 60 in the Milwaukee County Area. The Adjective Check List was also administered in order to compare the relationship between two of their subscales. The results were obtained by performing a factor analysis and a correlation. The factor loadings of the scale used with individuals over 60 were very similar to those in the literature involving college age populations. There was no correlation among the subscales of the scale and The Adjective Check List. The possibility of future use of the scale is discussed in terms of the fields of research in aging and self-consciousness.
This paper has been withdrawn.