Abstract
ABSTRACT The aim of the research was to examine the relation between `private/public self -consciousness`, `inner/outer self-esteem`, and `depression`. The research stems from the `objective self-awareness theory` by Duval and Vicklund and empirical research related to this theory whose central assumption is that, a person will evaluate him/herself, when s/he focuses his/her attention on the self as an object. As a consequence, awareness of any discrepancy between ideal and real self is aversive for an individual. Related studies have given evidence that, experienced `negative affect` is heightened by the awareness of the discrepancy. Later on, Fenigstein et al. assumed that individual differences exist in self-focused attention which can be conceptual izd as a disposition to focus on the internal or external aspects of the self, the former defined as having `private self -consciousness` and the latter as having `public self-consciousness`. They developed a `Self- Consciousness Scale`, in which private and public dimensions were existed as different subscales. These different dimensions of self -consciousness have been found to be important mediating variables in several empirical studies and have been shown that they are independent of each other concerning their effects on several facts, such as `opinion change`, `mood`, `self-schema accessibility`, etc.. TanIn order to comprehend the initial aversive effect of self-consciousness on `negative affect` (depression) and self-evaluation (self-esteem), the multidimensional view of self-esteem as well as self-consciosness was considered. Franks and Marolla conceived self-esteem as having `inner` and `outer` dimensions, the former pointing out the `efficacy` of self and the latter the `worth` of self, and developed a `Semantic Differential Self-Esteem Scale` which measures both these dimensions. Further, research fallows the `control theory` of Carver et al. and their `self-regulation` assumption in relation to `private self -consciousness` by which high private self -consciousness have been shown to act as an effective coping strategy with the salient discrepancy in the long-run, in contrast to law private self-consciousness and is thus emphasized as a `prohealth resource`. In the present study, the `Semantic Differential Self- Esteem Scale` and the `Private/* and `Public Self- consciusness Subscales` of the `Self-Consciusness Scale` were translated into Turkish and an initial pilot study was done, in order to examine their reliability in a university population. However, the `Semantic Differential Self- Esteem` and `Self -Consciousness Scales` needed to be revised and to be further tested before the main study, consequently second pilot study was done. The results indicated some increase in reliabiity, but further needed for revisions of the `Self-Consciousness Scale`. fillla the main study the fallowing hypotheses were examined: (a) Private/Public self-consciousness have no direct effects on Depression (negative affect) <b> but, high private self -consciousness when accompanied by Depression will have a negative influence on inner self-esteem and likewise, high public self -consciousness when accompanied by Depression will have a negative influence on outer self- esteem, compared to law private /public self-consiousness. (c) Depression will not be maintained, when the individual has high private self -consciousness. In addition, 4 subscales employed in the main study were subjected to psychometric analysis which suggested that revised scales possessed some degree of internal validity and reliabilty. The hypotheses were only partly supported, while private self-consciousness was not related to depression, public self-consciosness was. Moreover, high private self- consciousness and high public self -consciousness were not associated with lowering inner and outer self-esteem in the depressed and non-depressed subjects. Moreover, private self-consciousness does not exert any influence on the subsequent depression. These results were discussed in line with the recent `self-consciousness` research and also concerning the reliability and validity of the measures. Finally, recommendations were made for further research. IX
