Processing undesired aspects of the self: The role of rejection and schematic complexity.
Item
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Title
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Processing undesired aspects of the self: The role of rejection and schematic complexity.
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Identifier
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AAI9000690
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identifier
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9000690
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Creator
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Eisenstadt, Donna.
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Contributor
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Adviser: R. Glen Hass
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Date
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1989
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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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Theories of cognitive organization of information related to one's self-identity have been proposed by Bem's (1981) gender schema theory and by Markus' self-schema theory (Markus, 1977; Markus, Crane, Bernstein, & Siladi, 1982). Although these theories are similar in many respects, they make different predictions in some circumstances, and neither can completely account for the published data on the subject. The purpose of the present research was to test a new model that attempts to deal with some of these difficulties. Specifically, the proposed model addresses results of a study conducted by Frable and Bem (1985). In that study, cross-sex-typed subjects showed enhanced processing of sex-consistent compared to sex-inconsistent information. In addition, cross-sex-typed subjects displayed enhanced processing of sex-consistent information compared to other groups of subjects. Neither theory can explain why cross-sex-typed subjects displayed enhanced processing along the dimension for which they are considered aschematic. The present model proposes that cross-sex-typed subjects are probably more familiar with the sex-consistent than the sex-inconsistent dimension, despite the fact that they reject sex-consistent attributes. The greater familiarity of the rejected dimension was hypothesized to result in a cognitive structure that is more complex than that representing the accepted dimension. In addition, it was hypothesized that cross-sex-typed subjects might pay special attention to sex-consistent information and, so, manifest enhanced processing of sex-consistent information relative to other groups of subjects. Results from an incidental recall task were generally supportive of predictions made by this new model, whereas they failed to confirm those made by either self-schema theory or gender schema theory. Unexpectedly, data obtained from a complexity task failed to vary as a function of familiarity, opposing predictions made by all three models. Information obtained from an exploratory questionnaire revealed several demographic factors that might be associated with the process described by the model. The negative results for complexity and the application of this model to domains other than gender are also 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.
