The purpose of the Self Scale is to suggest how much access an individual currently has to what is called “Self” within the IFS concept of the personality.
Self Scale: Long version vs Short version
This research produced two measures of Self. One is the 25-item scale that was derived from the first phase of the factor analysis. The other is the 9-item scale that emerged during the final phase of the factor analysis and is used as the Self Subscale in the full IFS Scale. Both can be used as stand-alone measures.
The correlation between the Short and Long versions is very high (r=.98, p<.000, 1-tailed) so for all intents and purposes they are measuring the same dimension and are interchangeable. Both versions contain items that load on the two factors of Self (Self-Qualities and Self-Leadership).
The advantage of the Long 25-item Self Scale is that it is a more comprehensive exemplification of the concept of Self.
A disadvantage of both versions is that there are no reverse-scored items, which makes them less than optimal as clinical measures. During factor analysis the proposed reversed items factored with various Parts dimensions so were dropped from the Self Scale.
Both the Short and Long versions are presented here. The breakdown regarding which items reflect the two factors of Self is given with the Long version.
Due to its brevity, it is anticipated that the Short version will be more convenient to administer.
The Long version is presented in the hopes that its content and its revealed two-factor structure will be a helpful contribution to the emerging research on the concept of Self and Self-leadership.
What is presented here is a summary. The full description of the development of the Self Scale is presented here:
The Concept of Self
The core Self is viewed as the seat of consciousness, the essence of who and what a person is, and the natural and capable leader of the internal system. The Self can be experienced as active, aware, discerning, strong, balanced, calm, and compassionate. Every individual, no matter how distressed or traumatized, has a core Self that is healthy and intact. If the Self is not leading the internal system (e.g., a person is not calm or compassionate, or their behavior is harmful to themselves or others), it is not because the Self is defective, missing, immature, or inadequate, only that it is being constrained, either externally (by a stressful environment) or internally (by polarized Parts). Once the Self is free from constraints, it already has everything it needs to be an active, wise leader of the internal system and to move toward a healthy, fully functioning life.
For the purposes of this research, it was hypothesized that Self would be a separate factor from Parts. The hypothesis was supported. Results suggest that the dimension of Self is not simply a reversal of, or absence of, parts, but a unique and separate dimension of personality, validating the IFS model’s conception of personality.
The Items
In order to express the concept of Self in a scale, statements were used that reflected the “eight C’s” of Self (calm, clarity, courage, creativity, connectedness, curiosity, compassion, and confidence) as well as other statements that are characteristic of the experience of being “in Self” or “Self-led,” e.g., the ability to feel and stay centered, core self-esteem, resilience, the ability to resolve inner conflicts, the ability to self-soothe, the ability to withstand the pressure of unhealthy impulses, the ability to accept all parts, and the willingness to listen to all parts, even ones that are holding painful feelings.
It is interesting to note that items relating explicitly to creativity, connectedness, curiosity, and compassion proved to be too weak statistically to be retained. It is possible that these items are affected by issues of social desirability, i.e., that our desire to be seen as creative and compassionate interferes with our ability to clearly perceive how creative and compassionate we really are.
Self Has Two Factors
The 25 items of the original 178 that loaded most strongly and clearly on the Self factor during the factor analysis were analyzed separately. The 25-item scale demonstrates internal consistency (a = .97). Item-to-total correlations range from .58 to .86. When these 25 Self items were examined with a separate factor analysis (Varimax rotation), two dimensions of Self were revealed. Even though one factor explains most of the variance, the two factor solution makes theoretical and clinical sense, as it is consistent with the IFS model’s conception of Self as having a dual-nature (Schwartz, 1995, p. 38). The first factor, what we have called Self-Qualities, reflects the experiential aspect of Self, i.e., feeling calm and centered. Items that load on this factor include “I feel balanced and calm,” and “I feel worthy and valuable.” The second factor, what we have called Self-Leadership, reflects the instrumental aspect of Self. It contains items relating to the ability to maintain one’s center when under emotional stress. Items that load on this factor include “I can manage okay in the midst of chaos,” and “I feel able to comfort myself when something bad happens.” Even though they represent two aspects of Self, it must be emphasized that these two factors are very closely related, and several items load strongly on both factors.
Construct Validity
Group differences were examined using independent t-tests. The low trauma group scored higher on the Self Scale than the high trauma group, t(810) = 13.01, p < .000. Males scored higher on the Self Scale than females, t(465) = 3.54, p < .000. However, when level of trauma was controlled for, gender differences lost significance because females reported higher levels of trauma than males.