Individualism as a Moderator of the Association between Self-concept Clarity and Relationship Satisfaction

Individualism as a Moderator of the Association between Self-concept Clarity and Relationship Satisfaction

Group Project 1

Word Count: 2940

Research Methods

University College London

December 17, 2010Abstract

Much research has been dedicated to investigating how individual differences can contribute to greater relationship satisfaction. Lewandowski et al. (2010) found that self-concept clarity (SCC) was positively correlated with relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, past research has established that collectivist individuals tend to maintain less consistent beliefs about themselves across different contexts, and as a result have low SCC (Choi and Choi, 2002). Based on these findings, we hypothesized that the association between self-concept clarity would be moderated by ones level of individualism/collectivism. In other words, the positive correlation between SCC and relationship satisfaction will be heightened for those high on individualism, but not for those low in individualism (high on collectivism). For our study, 94 participants completed questionnaires measuring SCC, relationship satisfaction, self-esteem, and collectivism/individualism. Our findings support the claim that individualism moderates the relationship between SCC and relationship satisfaction.

Introduction

During the last century the idea of personal identity has been a topic of great interest. The certainty of peoples beliefs has been of relatively recent interest and therefore the literature is small in comparison to concepts such as self-esteem however, there is mounting empirical evidence which supports it as having contributions to psychological adjustment and wellbeing (Campbell, 1990, 2003;). This calls for more research and particularly, argues Lewandowski, Nardone & Raines (2010), in domains such as romantic relationships which plays such a big part in the human experience. Therefore the present study generally aims to further investigate the contribution of certainty of the self on psychological adjustment, namely romantic relationship satisfaction after considering the collectivism/individualism variable which has also recently received attention in the identity field of research.

In 1990, Campbell coined term Self-concept clarity (SCC) which addressed a certainty component of individuals perceived selves. SCC is considered to be a cognitive process and describes the extent to which self-beliefs are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporarily stable (Campbell, 1990; Campbell et al., 1996). This is thought to be theoretically distinct from the evaluative components of self-esteem (SE) (Rosenberg, 1965). However, much of the empirical evidence does indicate that SCC and SE are positively related concepts (about 0.60) (Bigler, Neimeyer and Brown 2001; Campbell et al 1991, 1996, 2000, 2003;).

Campbell notes that SCC is only temporarily stable, and time is not the only proposed moderator of SCC (Markus and Nurius 1986). Cousins (1989) found cultural differences between American and Japanese self-concepts with Japanese self-concepts more multifaceted than American self-concepts, and similar results were found comparing Korean and American self-concepts (Rhee, Uleman, Lee and Roman, 1995). Japanese and Korean self-concepts appear to be more context-specific and more acceptably contradictory than westerns more unitary self-concepts. Further, Taylor (1997) argues for the importance of cultural identity clarity on personal identity clarity which he argues translates to poor psychological well-being. This was supported by the findings of five studies by Usborne and Taylor (2010) which showed that the clarity of ones cultural group was found to be positively related to the clarity of the personal self and to self-esteem and consequently psychological wellbeing. This suggests that possibly the idea of a unitary attribute is inadequate in describing the certainty of peoples self-beliefs and it is potentially culturally moderated.

In one piece of research assessing the effect of SCC on psychological adjustment was conducted by Wu (2009) who studied its effect on the attachment styles of Taiwanese students. SCC was shown to be negatively related to anxiety and avoidance attachment styles. In a second study it was found that SCCs relationship with attachment styles were mediated by SE. Interestingly, they concluded, a path model relationship between the variables where SCC was the product not the cause: people who had secure attachment styles have higher self -esteem which results in higher SCC. This conclusion falls back on the well documented importance of SE and potentially undermines the effect of SCC in psychological adjustment. More research regarding SCCs involvement in psychological adjustment and the extent of redundancy with SE would need to be conducted to better understand the role of SCC.

In a similar study measuring the effect of SCC on positive human interaction, Lewandowski et al (2010) measured the relationship between SCC and elements of romantic relationship quality using the construct relationship satisfaction. This relationship satisfaction construct represents an evaluative component of relationship quality and the extent to which a relationship gratifies the individuals needs (Rusbult, Martz, & Agnew, 1998). Lewandowski et al found there to be significant positive relationship between SCC and relationship satisfaction. There was also found to be a mediatory effect of SE in the relationship between SCC and relationship satisfaction.

The present study generally aims to contribute more research into the effects of self-concept clarity on psychological adjustment in the form of relationship satisfaction. More specifically, the study aims to test the moderator effect of collectivism vs. individualism on the relationship between self-concept clarity and relationship satisfaction.

Based on the previous research it is expected that the present study will find a positive correlation between self-concept clarity and relationship satisfaction. It is predicted that this correlation will be moderated by the collectivism/individualism variable with the extent of this moderation being greater for more individualist scoring participants than the more collectivist scoring participants. We also expect to find that SCC is not just a proxy measure of SE, and that it has an independent effect on relationship satisfaction as Lewandowski et al (2010) found.

Method

Participants.

Questionnaires were administered to 94 volunteers (42 men and 52 women) at a convenience sample in London. Ages ranged from 18 to 71 (M=24.64). Participants were required to be in a current relationship. As indicated, 12.8% were dating casually, 76.6% dating exclusively, 4.3% engaged and 6.4% married. Relationship lengths ranged from 1 month to 52 years (M=37.64 months). Of those indicating ethnicity, 63.8% were white, 7.4% Asian, 1.1% black, 25.5% Chinese and 2% Mixed. According to Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions, 70.2% were from countries identified as individualistic, and 28.8% were from traditionally collectivist countries (Hofstede, 2009). Participants were given an information sheet about the study before their participation. Ethic approval for this study was granted by the departmental ethics committee within the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at University College London.

Measures.

The questionnaires packets consisted of 12 pages including 6 questionnaires. In addition to the demographic variables, five questionnaires of self-concept clarity, self-esteem, collectivist-individualist, inclusion of other in the self (IOS), and relationship satisfaction were completed respectively. We put the questionnaires in a fixed order to minimize order effect, since the completion of one questionnaire might have an effect on the other, e.g. self-esteem and relationship satisfaction questionnaires.

Demographic questionnaire. Participants completed a short demographic questionnaire including their age, gender, current relationship status, relationship length, citizenship of the participants and of their parents, and ethnicity.

Self-concept clarity. This scale consisted of 12 items which were to measure the level of clarity, consistency and stability of ones characteristics within the self-concept (Campbell et al, 1996). The items were measured on a scale of 5 levels: strongly disagree(1), disagree(2), neither agree nor disagree(3), agree(4) and strongly agree(5). Example questions included: My beliefs about myself often conflict with one another and My beliefs about myself seem to change very frequently.

Self-esteem. Participants rated 10 items based on the satisfaction of the self (Rosenberg, 1965). The rating scale was ranged from strongly agree(1), agree(2), neither agree nor disagree(3), disagree(4) and strongly disagree(5). Example items included: At times, I think I am no good at all and I feel that I have a number of good qualities.

Collectivist-individualist scale. This 66-item scale assessed the extent to which the participants maintain individualist or collectivist beliefs and behaviours (Shulruf et al, 2007). The items were rated from 1 to 6, with 1 being never or almost never and 6 being always. Examples of collectivist items included I hate to disagree with others in my group and In interacting with superiors, I am always polite. Examples of individualist items included I prefer to be self-reliant rather than depend on others and I consider myself as a unique person separate from others.

Relationship satisfaction. This scale measured participants perception and satisfaction of their relatio