| Abstract: | Research into the self-concept has shown that self-knowledge is affected by factors such as trait desirability, trait vagueness, and self-variability. Among these, social desirability appears to play a prominent role. In a multidimensional view of the self, however, several studies indicate that in special conditions people show adequate self-knowledge in specific personality dimensions. The present study tests this with respect to extraversion and anxiety predisposition on a sample of 160 late adolescents. The main results confirm the prominent influence of social desirability, but they also provide support for the hypothesis of the specificity of self-perception. Despite a common pattern, the effects of desirability appeared, to some extent, to be less strong for anxiety than for extraversion. Several possible interpretations of this finding are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
