Conceptualizing and Measuring Self-Criticism as Both a Personality Trait and a Personality State

Blatt's (2004 Blatt, S. J. (2004). Experiences of depression: Theoretical, clinical, and research perspectives. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2008 Blatt, S. J. (2008). Polarities of experience: Relatedness and self-definition in personality development, psychopathology, and the therapeutic process. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) conceptualization of self-criticism is consistent with a state–trait model that postulates meaningful variation in self-criticism both between persons (traits) and within person (states). We tested the state–trait model in a 7-day diary study with 99 college student participants. Each evening they completed a 6-item measure of self-criticism, as well as measures of perceived social support, positive and negative affect, compassionate and self-image goals during interactions with others, and interpersonal behavior, including overt self-criticism and given social support. As predicted, self-criticism displayed both trait-like variance between persons and daily fluctuations around individuals' mean scores for the week; slightly more than half of the total variance was between persons (ICC = .56). Numerous associations at both the between-persons and within-person levels were found between self-criticism and the other variables, indicating that individuals' mean levels of self-criticism over the week, and level of self-criticism on a given day relative to their personal mean, were related to their cognitions, affect, interpersonal goals, and behavior. The results supported the construct validity of the daily self-criticism measure. Moreover, the findings were consistent with the state–trait model and with Blatt's theoretical analysis of self-critical personality.