Global Self-Evaluation as Determined by the Desirability and Controllability of Trait Adjectives

In this investigation, evaluations of self in relation to others were examined by means of asking subjects to rate the degree to which various trait adjectives characterized themselves or the average college student. Two independent samples of subjects first rated the degree to which various traits represented desirable characteristics, and the degree to which it was possible for a person to exert control over each of these characteristics. From these initial ratings, 154 trait adjectives for which four levels of desirability were crossed with two levels of controllability were selected. A third sample of subjects then rated the degree to which each of these traits characterized the self and the average college student. It was predicted that self ratings in relation to average college student ratings would be increasingly positive as traits increased in desirability. It was also predicted that in conditions of high desirability, self ratings in relation to average college student ratings would be greater for high controllable traits than for low controllable traits, whereas in conditions of low desirability the opposite would occur. Both of these predictions were strongly supported. Results are discussed in terms of the adaptive advantages of maintaining a global self-concept that implies that positive characteristics are under personal control and that negative characteristics are caused by factors outside of personal control.