PROMISES AND SELF-FOCUSED ATTENTION.
Item
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Title
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PROMISES AND SELF-FOCUSED ATTENTION.
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Identifier
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AAI8103915
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identifier
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8103915
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Creator
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CALLAHAN, SIDNEY DESHAZO.
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Contributor
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Charles P. Smith
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Date
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1980
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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An empirical study of promises and self-focused attention was carried out using 72 women as subjects. Questionnaire measures of self-consciousness, or self-focused attention, age, locus of control and family embeddedness were obtained. The women then filled out a specially constructed promise questionnaire either in front of a large mirror or in a no mirror condition; they were then asked to promise to send back four postcards over three weeks time. The seven dependent variables of the study consisted of five self-report variables derived from the promise questionnaire and two behavioral variables consisting of a latency measure of the time taken to make a promise and the number of postcards returned. The five self-report variables were: self-responsibility for promise breaking, subjectivity of moral judgments about promising, self-confidence for promise keeping, estimates of others' promise keeping, and assessed possibility of promises. Hypotheses were derived and predictions made for the relationship of the four independent variables of self-consciousness, age, locus of control and family embeddedness to the seven dependent variables. When tested the hypotheses for the effects of self-consciousness induced by a mirror were not supported. Private self-consciousness, as measured by a self-consciousness scale, was positively and significantly correlated with subjectivity of moral judgment about promising, and negatively and significantly correlated with self-consciousness for promise keeping. In addition, private self-consciousness was positively correlated with time taken to make a promise and the number of postcards returned. As also hypothesized, internality of locus of control was positively and significantly related to estimates of others' promise keeping. These results, along with descriptive data exploring the domain of promises, are discussed.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
