SELF CONCEPT QUESTIONNAIRE Kinds of self:

DR. RAJ KUMAR SARASWAT  Personal self – this leads to an orientation in which one feels primarily conserned with
oneself.
 Social self -the social self emerges in relation with others and emphasizes such
AIM: To assess the level of self-concept of my subject using Dr. Saraswat`s Self Concept aspects of life as cooperation, unity, sacrifice, support or sharing.
Questionnaire (SCQ).
Self-regulation - It refers to the ability to organise and monitor our overt behavior. People
BASIC CONCEPT:
who are able to change their behavior according to the demands of the external environment
Self – It refers to totality of an individual`s conscious experiences, ideas, thoughts and
are high on self-regulation.
feelings with regard to himself and herself. The concept of self is created to help understand
the personality theory better.
An examination of various instruments developed to measure self-concept reveals these
How does self develop – a newly born child has no idea of its self. As a child grows older,
measures have not incorporated many important components of self-concept presumed in
the idea of self emerges and its formation begins. Parents, friends, teachers and significant
theory and in observation. These measures do not deal with all aspects of self-concept, but
others play a vital role in shaping a child`s ideas about self. Our interactions with other
provide narrow and limited information depending upon purpose and interest of investigators.
people, our experiences and the meaning we give to them serve as the basis of ourself. The
structure of self is modifiable in the light of our own experiences and the experiences we
Adolescence is a period of life with its own peculiar characteristics and problems. Hence for
have of other people.
deep penetration into their perceptions their own physical, social, temperamental,
 Personal Identity – It refers to those attributes of a person that makes him different
educational, moral and intellectual spheres need to be explored. As such, an attempt has been
from others. For e.g. My name is Sonal/Mohan
made in this questionnaire or eliciting information regarding adolescent’s perceptions and
 Social Identity – It refers to those aspects of a person that link him/her to social or
characteristics.
cultural group. For e.g. I am a Muslim
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST
Self-concept – The way we perceive ourselves and the ideas we hold about our competencies
The SCQ was developed by Dr. [Link] and it provides six separate dimensions of self-
and attributes is also called self-concept. This can be either positive or negative. A person
concept, namely physical [view about their body and health], social [sense of worth in social
may have a positive view of her/his athletics or bravery but a negative view of his academic
interactions], temperamental [emotional state], educational [in relation to school, teachers and
talent. Studies indicate that by the age of 6-7 yrs children seem to have formed seld esteem
co-curricular activities], moral [moral worth] and intellectual [ awareness of their intelligence
atleast in four areas:
and capacity to solve problems]. It also gives a total self-concept score.
 Academics
 Social Competence PRELIMINARIES
 Atheletic competence Name:
 Physical appearance Age:
Place:
Self-concept has been referred by Lowe (1961) as one’s attitude towards self, and by Qualifications:
Paderson (1965) as an organised configuration, of perceptions, beliefs, feelings, attitudes and Date:
values which the individual views as the part of characteristics of himself. Rogers (1951)
defined self-concept as “an organised configuration of perceptions of the self which are MATERIAL REQUIRED
admissible to awareness. It is compared of such elements as the perceptions of one’s  The Self-Concept Questionnaire (SCQ) booklet.
characteristics and abilities, the percepts and concepts of the self in relation to others and to  The Self-Concept Questionnaire (SCQ) Manual.
the environment, the value qualities which are perceived as associated with experiences and  Pencil
objects, and the goals and ideals which are perceived as having positive or negative valence.”  Pen
Saraswat and Gaur (1981) described self-concept as “The self-concept is the individual’s way  Eraser
of looking at himself. It also signifies his way of thinking, feeling and behaving”.
RELIABILITY
Self-efficacy – refers to the believe of a person in his ability to control life outcomes. Reliability of the inventory was found by test-retest method, and it was found to be .91 for
Self as subject and object – When self is described as doing something [ I am dancer], it is a the total self-concept measure. Reliability coefficients of its various dimensions varies from
subject. On the other other hand if it describes as an entity on which something is done, it is .67 to .88. The following table shows the test-retest reliability for each dimension.
described as subject.
 INSTRUCTIONS
Code No. Self-Concept Dimension No. of Items Reliability The following instructions were given to the subject:
Coefficients “This is a self-concept inventory. There are 48 items in it. Against each item there are five
A Physical 8 .77 responses. You have to read each item carefully and respond to it by marking a tick mark on
B Social 8 .83 any one of the five responses given against that item, which you think describe you well.
C Temperamental 8 .79 There is no right or wrong answer. The right answer is only what you feel about yourself. Try
D Educational 8 .88 to give your responses according to what you feel about yourself with reference to that
E Moral 8 .67 statement. Your answers will be kept confidential.”
F Intellectual 8 .79 After the above instructions, administrator explain the example given on the inventory.
Total Self-Concept 48 .91
PROCEDURE
VALIDITY: All the materials required were kept ready. Before the subject was actually called, SCQ
Experts’ opinion was obtained to establish the validity of the inventory. 100 items were given booklet along with pencil and an eraser were kept on the table. Rapport was established with
to 25 psychologists to classify the items to the category to which it belongs. Items of highest the subject. Then the instructions were given. After the instructions, SCQ booklet was given
agreement and not less than 80% of agreement were selected. Thus, the content and construct to the subject. Lastly, after the completion of the test, introspective report was taken from the
validity were established. subject.

NORMS: INTROSPECTIVE REPORT

The self-concept questionnaire was standardized on 1000 students of 20 higher secondary The subject gave the following introspective report:
schools of Delhi pertaining to Delhi Administration and Central Schools. The students were “The test was nice and interesting. I am curious to know my result. On the whole, I enjoyed
from IXth and Xth classes ranging from 14 to 18 years of both the sexes. the test.”

SCORING BEHAVIOURAL REPORT

The respondent is provided with five alternatives to give his responses ranging from most “It was observed that from the beginning only the subject was very confident. She was
acceptable to least acceptable description of his self-concept. The alternatives or responses excited for doing the test. She was also enjoying doing the test. Only afterwards she got tired
are arranged in such a way that the scoring system for all the items will remain the same i.e., i.e., towards the end. As obvious, her speed decreased but she still managed to complete the
5,4,3,2,1 whether the items are positive or negative. If the respondent put tick mark for first whole test. But at the end, it can be said that she did the test in quite impressive way as she
alternative the score is 5, for second alternative the score is 4, for third alternative score is 3, took almost appropriate time.”
for fourth alternative the score is 2 and for the fifth alternative the score is one. The
summated score for all the forty-eight items provides the total concept score of an individual. PRECAUTIONS
A high score on this inventory indicates a higher self-concept, while a low score shows low The following precautions were kept in mind while conducting the test:
self-concept of an individual. Transfer the score of each item on the front page against that  Appropriate conditions were maintained as far as possible.
item. Now add all the scores of eight items given in that column, this will give you the score  Care was taken that there was a sharpened pencil.
for that particular dimension of self-concept.  Atmosphere was made comfortable and quiet.
 It was made sure that the subject understood all the instructions
PRE-ADMINISTRATION  Care was taken that the subject had no idea about the test booklet before the test
It is self-administering record and may be administered individually as well as in groups. The actually started.
instructions with examples are given on the front page of the booklet of SCQ. Before calling  It was made sure that the subject was feeling comfortable.
the subject for the test, all the arrangements were done properly. SCQ Booklet, Pencil, Eraser  All the materials required were kept ready on the table before the subject was called
and rough sheet were kept on the table. for the test.
 Different time limit constraints were imposed on the subject for each subtest.
RAPPORT FORMATION:
Rapport was established between the subject and the tester, prior to the test so that he/she
could feel comfortable and at ease. In such a state, she/he should answer the questions in a
calm manner and any doubts should be cleared before starting the test.
RESULTS
The table is drawn on the drawing sheet.
DIMENSION RAW SCORES INTERPRETAION

Total Self Concept

INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION

The aim of the test is to assess the level of self-concept of my subject using Dr. Saraswat`s
Self Concept Questionnaire (SCQ).
The SCQ was developed by Dr. [Link] and it provides six separate dimensions of self-
concept, namely physical [view about their body and health], social [sense of worth in social
interactions], temperamental [emotional state], educational [in relation to school, teachers and
co-curricular activities], moral [moral worth] and intellectual [ awareness of their intelligence
and capacity to solve problems]. It also gives a total self-concept score.

My subject got a score of ____ in the physical dimension which means he/she has _____ self-
concept of her/his own body, health and physical appearance and strength. In social
dimension my subject got ____ self-concept which means he/she has ____ self-concept about
her interpersonal skills and social interactions. In temperamental dimension, he/she got a
score of ___ which corresponds to ____ self-concept about his/her emotional state and
reactions. He/she got ____ score in educational dimension which shows that he/she has ____
self-concept in relation to school, teachers and extra-curricular activities. My subject got a
score of ___ in moral dimension which means he/she has ____ self-concept in his/her moral
worth. In intellectual dimension, he/she scored _____ which corresponds to ____ self-
concept in awareness about his/her intelligence and capacity to solve problems.

CONCLUSION
My subject has a score of _____ in total self-concept which means he/she has _____ self-
concept.

REFERENCES
 NCERT Psychology Textbook
 SCQ Manual