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Postmodern selves and the problem of self-identity Hennig, Karl H.

Abstract

This research sought to operationalize some of the central psychological elements of emergent contemporary selves, herein broadly dubbed, postmodern. These elements involve both the multiplicity of the self-concept (as measured by Linville's self-sorting task) and the accounts that people employ to justify their self-identity (obtained by semi-structured interview and scored using Chandler's developmental taxonomy). Participants also responded to six measures of wellbeing and adaptiveness: perceived stress, locus of control, behavioral flexibility, self-concept confusion, self-esteem, and self-focused attention. It was hypothesized that the combination of high self-multiplicity with more dynamic, or functional, accounts of self-identity, termed multiplicitous functionalism, will contribute to well-being. Participants were 64 female and male undergraduates in the 18- to 24-year age group - a point in the lifespan when self-identity is undergoing considerable flux. Results indicated that, as expected, higher levels of self-identity were associated with greater self-multiplicity. The various measures of well-being were meaningfully correlated. The locus of control construct was used to make a number of important distinctions. For example, those low in perceived stress and those high in behavioral flexibility, self-esteem, and self-clarity reported greater internality. Consistent with the central thrust of this research, multiplicitous functionalism (high in both self-multiplicity and self-identity) was associated with overall psychological adaptiveness and well-being, as evidenced by greater behavioral flexibility and reflection, and less rumination and perceived stress. This thesis has sought to buttress the argument for a developmental consideration of selfhood, contending that recent talk of protean, polyphonic selves do suggest themselves as adaptive, particularly in a culture where instability and fragmentation seem often the case.

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