The shape of self-extension: Mapping the extended self with multidimensional scaling

This exploratory study examined the three domains of self-extension proposed by William James' Constituents of Self — the psychological, social, and material domains. A novel analytic method, Multidimensional Scaling (MDS-T), was used to represent the structure of James' self-extension domains in geometric space for a large sample of American adults (N=1181). Differences in the structure of self-extension by gender, race, age, and emotional health were also explored. Results suggested that the extended self, as conceptualized by James, has a clear and robust structure. Each of James' self-extension domains were distinctly represented in geometric space; yet, findings suggest a slight refinement of the self-extension subdomain groupings. Additionally, potential links between the structure of self-extension, age and emotional health were also observed. Findings from this study should be viewed as heuristic, lending empirical support to long-standing theory on the configuration of the self, characterized through extension. •This exploratory study examined William James' three domains of self-extension.•Multidimensional Scaling was used to model self-extension in geometric space.•Results suggest that the structure James' self-extension domains is clear and robust.•Each self-extension domain was uniquely represented in geometric space.•Self-extension was also explored relative to gender, race, age, and well-being.