Soeiro,
Loren (5/08) State versus trait self-focus: comparing self-awareness to
self-consciousness (Gary Kose, Ph.D.; Barry Ritzler, Ph.D.; Howard Mcguire, Ph.D.)
This study examined two theories of
self-directed attention: dispositional theories focusing on trait
self-consciousness and situational theories focusing on state self-awareness.
Four self-report variables relating to self-focus, and two performance-related
variables, were tested under three self-awareness conditions: high, low, and a
control condition. Theories of self-focus under consideration were the
Fenigstein, Scheier and Buss (1975) theory of self-consciousness and Duval and
Wicklund's (1972) theory of self-awareness. The self-awareness construct
hypothesizes that self-directed attention varies largely due to situational
differences, while self-consciousness theory posits that self-directed
attention arises from personality traits that are stable across the lifespan.
Evidence determined via multivariate analysis of variance, as well as by
correlation, supported a dispositional theory of self-directed attention. In
sum, Fenigstein et al.'s 1975 trait-based self-consciousness theory proved a
better match for the data.
