Self-concept clarity (SCC) references a structural aspect oftbe self-concept: the extent to which selfbeliefs are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and stable. This article reports the SCC Scale and examines (a) its correlations with self-esteem (SE), the Big Five dimensions, and self-focused attention (Study l); (b) its criterion validity (Study 2); and (c) its cultural boundaries (Study 3). Low SCC was independently associated with high Neuroticism, low SE, low Conscientiousness, low Agreeableness, chronic self-analysis, low internal state awareness, and a ruminative form of self-focused attention. The SCC Scale predicted unique variance in 2 external criteria: the stability and consistency of self-descriptions. Consistent with theory on Eastern and Western selfconstruals, Japanese participants exhibited lower levels of SCC and lower correlations between SCC and SE than did Canadian participants. Within the last couple of decades, psychologists' view of the self-concept has undergone a dramatic transformation (Markus & Wurf, 1987). Early researchers treated the self-concept as a unitary, monolithic entity-a stable, generalized view of the self-and typically focused their research efforts on a single aspect of the self-concept, self-esteem. Contemporary researchers, in contrast, rely on a multifaceted, dynamic construal in which the self-concept is defined as a cognitive schema-an organized knowledge structure that contains traits, values, episodic and semantic memories about the self and controls the processing of self-relevant information (e.g.,

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A diary study examined the impact of personal goals on appraisals, self-regulatory processes, and affect in response to daily negative events. Participants, who were pretested on a goal inventory, completed a diary in which they described and rated the most bothersome event twice each day for 2 weeks. Events were later coded for goal relevance and self-focused attention. Goal-related events were appraised as more serious and personally important, were associated with more negative moods during the rating period, and elicited stronger self-regulatory responses (higher levels of self-focused attention, self-concept confusion, and rumination). The relation between goal relevance and mood was mediated by the self-regulatory variables. Nomothetic and idiographic relations among the diary variables (ignoring goal relevance) also implicated self-regulatory processes in responding to negative events.

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Self-concept clarity (SCC) references a structural aspect oftbe self-concept: the extent to which selfbeliefs are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and stable. This article reports the SCC Scale and examines (a) its correlations with self-esteem (SE), the Big Five dimensions, and self-focused attention (Study l); (b) its criterion validity (Study 2); and (c) its cultural boundaries (Study 3). Low SCC was independently associated with high Neuroticism, low SE, low Conscientiousness, low Agreeableness, chronic self-analysis, low internal state awareness, and a ruminative form of self-focused attention. The SCC Scale predicted unique variance in 2 external criteria: the stability and consistency of self-descriptions. Consistent with theory on Eastern and Western selfconstruals, Japanese participants exhibited lower levels of SCC and lower correlations between SCC and SE than did Canadian participants. Within the last couple of decades, psychologists' view of the self-concept has undergone a dramatic transformation (Markus & Wurf, 1987). Early researchers treated the self-concept as a unitary, monolithic entity-a stable, generalized view of the self-and typically focused their research efforts on a single aspect of the self-concept, self-esteem. Contemporary researchers, in contrast, rely on a multifaceted, dynamic construal in which the self-concept is defined as a cognitive schema-an organized knowledge structure that contains traits, values, episodic and semantic memories about the self and controls the processing of self-relevant information (e.g.,