A Test of Two Theories: Elkind and Lapsley on the Imaginary Audience and Personal Fable

A study investigated: (1) whether the distribution of eighth graders' scores on measures of the strength of imaginary audience and personal fable across levels of cognitive development would support Elkind's cognitive theory; and (2) whether such students' level of interpersonal understanding would support Lapsley's contention that interpersonal understanding is the aspect of development most clearly associated with the egocentrism of adolescence. Subjects were 52 eighth grade students between 13 and 14 years of age who attended a junior high school in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Three paper and pencil instruments and a personal interview were administered. The written instruments were the Imaginary Audience Scale (Elkind and Bower, 1979), two subscales from the Personal Fable Scale (Green et al., in press), and seven items from Form A of the How Is Your Logic Test (Grey and Hudson, 1984). Results supported neither Elkind's theory of the developmental basis of imaginary audience and personal fable nor Lapsley's theory of an interpersonal basis for these variables. In no case did cognitive developmental stage or interpersonal understanding contribute significantly to the strength of imaginary audience or personal fable. It was concluded that the major questions about the genesis of adolescent egocentrism remain unanswered. (RH)