Stability and change in adolescent self-consciousness and empathy

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY 25, 70-87 (1991)

Stability and Change in Adolescent Self-Consciousness and Empathy

MARK H. DAVIS

Eckerd College

AND

STEPHEN L. FRANZOI

Marquette University

The present investigation was carried out to examine the evidence for stability and change during adolescence in two sets of theoretically important traits: self- consciousness and empathy. While the sets are clearly distinct from one another, they fall into the same general domain-that of constructs concerned with one’s tendency to attend to psychological states, motives, and behavioral tendencies of the self and others. Two hundred and five high school students (103 males and 102 females) were surveyed at l-year intervals for 3 successive years, completing the Self-Consciousness Scale and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (a measure of empathy) at each time point. Results indicated a considerable degree of year- to-year stability in scores on all three self-consciousness scales and all four empathy scales; in addition, for two of the self-consciousness scales (private and public) the degree of year-to-year stability increased with age. Mean scores on the three self-consciousness scales exhibited no significant change from year to year; for empathy, however, predicted year-to-year increases were found for perspective taking and empathic concern, and a predicted decrease over time was found for personal distress. These results are consistent with previous research and theorizing, and are discussed in terms of Hoffman’s views on the development of empathic capacities in children. o 1991 Academic press, hc.

We would like to thank Richard Debelak for his help in scheduling our data collection. Work on this study was supported by funds provided by the Post-Doctoral Program in Social Psychology (PHS T32 MH 14588-05) and the Post-Doctoral Program in Measurement (PHS T32 15798-02) at Indiana University, and by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health Small Grants Program (1 R03 MH 38989-01).

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mark H. Davis, Behavioral Sciences, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL 33733 or to Stephen L. Franzoi, Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53233.

70

0092-6566191 $3.00 Copyright 0 1991 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

ADOLESCENT SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND EMPATHY 71

How stable is personality during adolescence and adulthood? With regard to adulthood, current evidence suggests considerable stability (e.g., Costa & McCrae, 1980; Costa, McCrae, & Arenberg, 1980; Schuerger, Tait, & Tavernelli, 1982) even over quite considerable periods of time (e.g., Conley, 1984, 1985; Finn, 1986; Stevens & Truss, 1985). The ac- cumulated weight of this evidence has even led some to conclude that with age, “adults as a group neither increase nor decrease noticeably in any of the traits identified by major personality instruments” (Costa & McCrae, 1984; p. 28). Although adolescence is commonly regarded as a time of turbulent change, evidence regarding this time of life also reveals a good deal of trait stability. For example, Stein, Newcomb, & Bentler (1986) reported considerable continuity in personality traits over an 8 year period starting in junior high; the average correlation (corrected for at- tenuation) from the first to last year was 52. Other investigations have yielded similar results (e.g., Bachman, O’Malley, & Johnston, 1978; Backteman & Magnusson, 1981; Block, 1971).

While the evidence suggests a substantial degree of personality stability during adolescence, it is clear that developmental change in personality also occurs. In fact, the existence of developmental change and high stability in the same traits over the same time is not necessarily a con- tradiction. Developmental change is most frequently assessed by comparisons of mean levels of personality traits; that is, are the trait scores of a given population different at Time 2 than at Time l? In contrast, stability is a measure of the relative ordering of trait scores. assessed by means of test-retest correlations. Thus, groups can evidence significant increases or decreases on important trait dimensions while simultaneously demonstrating a high degree of year-to-year continuity on those traits. In fact, the Stein et al. (1986) investigation which reported high trait stability also found significant mean differences over time for 10 of the 15 traits considered in that study.

The purpose of the present investigation is to examine the evidence for stability and change during adolescence in two sets of theoretically important constructs. These sets are measured by the three subscales of the Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975), which tap self-awareness tendencies, and the four subscales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980), a multidimensional measure of individual differences in empathy. We have chosen these two sets of dispositions for both theoretical and empirical reasons; it is to those reasons that we now turn.

Self-Consciousness and Empathy: Two Types of Awareness

The two sets of traits we have chosen to study are both concerned with the degree to which individuals are aware of and/or responsive to them-

72 DAVIS AND FRANZ01

selves or others. The subscales making up the Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS), for example, all measure individual tendencies to be conscious of private or public aspects of the self. The subscales making up the Inter- personal Reactivity Index (IRI) all tap different aspects of empathy, the tendency to be aware of and react to the mental or emotional states of other people. Thus, while these two sets of traits are clearly distinct from one another, they can also be seen as part of the same general domain- that of constructs having to do with awareness of and sensitivity to psychological states, motives, and behavioral tendencies: in one case (SCS) the attention is self-directed, and in the other (IRI) it is other-directed.

Self-consciousness. Fenigstein et al. (1975) developed the Self-Con- sciousness Scale to measure individual differences in self-awareness tendencies. The measure consists of three subscales. The private self-consciousness subscale measures the tendency to pay attention to private, nonvisible aspects of the self such as memories, motives, and feelings. The public self-consciousness subscale taps the tendency to be attentive to and concerned about one’s public self-aspects, such as physical appearance. The social anxiety subscale measures the tendency to experience anxiety and embarrassment in social settings.

Since 1975, when the SCS was developed, one or more of its subscales have been used in well over 150 empirical investigations (Franzoi, 1986). This research has revealed self-consciousness-especially the private and public measures-to be an important influence on an extremely wide range of behaviors (see Buss, 1980, or Carver & Scheier, 1981 for reviews of such research); along with the Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974), the SCS ranks as one of the most-utilized personality trait measures developed in recent years.

Despite the popularity of the SCS in research, very little work involving this measure has used anything other than college-aged samples. In particular, no investigations to our knowledge have yet examined the question of consistency in self-consciousness during adolescence. As a result, an assessment of stability and change in adolescent SCS scores seems valuable for two reasons. The first is simply because so little is known about the developmental course of self-awareness tendencies. This investigation is a first attempt to test for developmental increases or decreases in private and public self-consciousness. Second, this research has merit because of the heavy reliance on college students in previous investigations. Finding a reliable pattern of increasing or decreasing self-consciousness would have implications for interpreting the many results involving college students. It could suggest, for example, that the findings typically associated with higher private self-consciousness, such as increased attitude-behavior consistency, become more or less widespread with age. Similarly, a finding


of weak year-to-year stability in self-consciousness would suggest caution in relying on studies of subjects only a year or two out of high school.

Empathy. Empathy has long been viewed as a fundamental social skill which allows the individual to anticipate, understand, and experience the point of view of other people; this ability is thought to underlie a number of important capabilities and behaviors, including moral development (e.g., Hoffman, 1985), aggression (Feshbach, 1964; Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972) and altruism (e.g., Batson, Duncan, Ackerman, Buckley, & Birch, 1981). Unlike self-consciousness, however, this trait has often been studied with populations younger than college age, and much of this research has mapped the developmental changes in empathy throughout childhood (e.g., Flavell, 1968; Selman, 1976). A distinction often drawn in this research is between cognitive empathy (or role-taking, or perspective- taking), which involves an understanding of the internal state of another, and emotional (or affective) empathy, which involves an emotional reaction on the part of an individual to the observed experiences of the other (e.g., Feshbach, 1977).

Developmental psychologists have utilized a variety of techniques, both self-report and observational, to assess empathic reactions in children. With adolescent and adult samples, however, paper and pencil measures have been most popular (e.g., Hogan, 1969; Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972). More recently, Davis (1980) has developed a questionnaire measure of empathy which makes important distinctions between different kinds of empathic response. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) consists of four subscales, each of which taps a separate facet of empathy. The Perspective Taking (PT) subscale explicitly measures the cognitive tendency to see things from the point of view of others, without necessarily experiencing any affective response. The Empathic Concern (EC) subscale measures the tendency to experience the affective reaction of sympathy and compassion for others. The Personal Distress (PD) subscale also taps emotional response, but of a different type; it measures the tendency to experience personal feelings of distress and uneasiness in reaction to others’ distress. The Fantasy (FS) subscale taps the tendency to imaginatively transpose oneself into the feelings of fictitious characters in movies, books, and plays. As such, it seems closer in tone to the two “emotional” subscales than to the more cognitive perspective-taking measure.

While not currently as widely used as the SCS, the IRI has nevertheless been steadily growing in popularity, in large part due to its explicitly multidimensional nature. Unlike unidimensional measures, the IRI provides separate assessments of both the emotional and cognitive facets of empathy, and thus allows easy examination of the different roles played by these constructs. A growing number of investigations utilizing this


measure have been conducted, most involving college-aged subjects, and have provided considerable construct validation (e.g., Batson, Bolen, Cross, & Neuringer-Benefiel, 1986; Bernstein & Davis, 1982; Davis, 1983a; 1983b; 1983~; Davis, Hull, Young, & Warren, 1987; Davis & Oathout, 1987; Franzoi, Davis, & Young, 198.5; Hull, Van Treuren, & Virnelli, 1987; Romer, Gruder, & Lizzadro, 1986).

Thus, as with the SCS, we feel that assessing stability and change in IRI scores is valuable. Given its current level of use and the advantages it offers over other, unidimensional, empathy measures (e.g., Hogan, 1969; Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972), it seems likely that the IRI will become a widely used measure of empathic tendencies; understanding its stability over time is therefore a worthy goal. Further, this study provides an opportunity to study changes in empathic tendencies among adolescents using an instrument originally designed for adults. As such, it is a partial bridging of the gap between two bodies of empathy research which are usually quite separate.

Capacities vs Tendencies

Given the focus of previous empathy research on preadolescent subjects, and the focus in self-consciousness work on college-aged respondents, the decision to examine adolescents (grades 9-12) in this investigation de- serves some discussion. However, in doing so an important point must be addressed: the distinction between psychological capacities and tendencies. A capacity refers to one’s ability to engage in some mental ac- tivity-the ability to adopt another’s perspective, or to attend to one’s own internal states. A tendency, in contrast, refers to the likelihood of actually adopting another’s perspective or attending to one’s own internal state. Importantly, possessing a capacity does not ensure that this capacity will be used.

As it happens, most theorizing about the development of empathy and self-awareness has dealt with the acquisition of capacities. Such theorizing has often focused on questions such as the age at which decentering, or role-taking, or introspection, is first possible. Because these capacities are thought to be acquired virtually universally by adolescence, the most appropriate time period for examining developmental changes in capacity is childhood. In contrast, our concern in this paper is with individuals’ tendencies to utilize their capacities. This focus on tendencies consequently makes adolescence the most appropriate time to examine developmental trends. Because virtually all normal adolescents possess the ability to empathize or to self-reflect, the important differences among them are likely to be in the tendency to utilize these abilities. Thus, in the present study the respondents are high school students, and the primary measures


tap the self-reported tendency to use existing empathic or self-consciousness capacities.

Expectations

In light of the research cited earlier (Bachman et al., 1978; Backteman & Magnusson, 1981; Block, 1971; Stein et al., 1986), we expect to find a considerable degree of year-to-year stability in these indices of self- consciousness and empathy. Correlations over the course of 1 year are expected to be high.

With regard to changes in mean trait levels from year to year, the picture is more complex. No specific predictions are offered concerning the three SCS scales because we have no clear theory-based reason to expect private or public self-attention to change during the years spanned in this study. Although adolescence is often characterized as a time of heightened awareness of the self and concern for appearance (e.g., Ham- burg, 1974; Rosenberg, 1979), we have no reason to believe that the ages covered in this investigation (roughly 14-17) will necessarily include the onset or termination of this period of heightened awareness tendencies; thus we cannot predict whether self-consciousness scores will rise or fall during this time.

Regarding empathy, however, firmer predictions can be advanced. Hoff- man (1975; 1976) has offered a theory, concerned with the development of empathy in children, which is based on constructs very similar to those tapped by three of the IRI scales. Hoffman holds that virtually from birth the infant is capable of experiencing a personal state of distress in response to the distress of others; this affective response may be considered very roughly comparable to the personal distress measured by the IRI. As the child’s cognitive role-taking skills sharpen and develop with age (roughly equivalent to the perspective taking of the IRI), the self-oriented distress reaction is gradually transformed into a more other-oriented form of distress-feelings of sympathy and compassion for the other which ap- proximate the IRI’s empathic concern. Thus, Hoffman posits a sequence in which age is associated with increased role-taking and sympathetic concern and decreased personal distress. Of course, Hoffman is concerned with empathic capacities and not tendencies.

Our expectation for empathic tendencies mirrors Hoffman’s regarding capacities. We expect year-to-year increases in scores on the Perspective Taking and Empathic Concern scales, and decreases on the Personal Distress scale. No predictions are offered regarding the Fantasy scale. Our reasoning is that after the near-universal acquisition of perspective- taking ability, there continues to be an increase over time, into adolescence, of the tendency to use this skill. Similarly, the increase in capacity for empathic concern and decrease in personal distress which accompanies


the development of perspective-taking ability in Hoffman’s theory will be mirrored, we feel, by an increasing tendency to experience empathic concern and a decreasing tendency to experience feelings of personal distress in the adolescent years.

METHOD

Subjects

Data were obtained from 205 high school students (103 male and 102 female) from a small city (population approximately 8,000) located in Michigan’s upper peninsula. As part of a larger longitudinal project, sur- vey instruments were administered to the vast majority of the student body (N of approximately 400 each year) at l-year intervals for 4 successive years (1982-1985). Subjects included in these analyses are those students from whom data were collected for at least 3 consecutive years: students who were in the 9th or 10th grades in 1982, and those who entered 9th grade in 1983. Data described in these analyses as being from Year 1 come from 10th graders in 1982 and 1983 and 9th graders in 1983; Year 2 data come from 11th graders in 1983 and 1984 and 10th graders in 1984; Year 3 data come from 12th graders in 1984 and 1985 and 11th graders in 1985. Thus, Year ,l data come primarily from 10th graders, Year 2 from 11th graders, and Year 3 from 12th graders.

Two other published papers (Davis & Franzoi, 1986; Franzoi & Davis, 1985) have included data from some subjects included in this investigation. Both of those earlier studies had goals quite different from the present one. The first goal was to examine the links between two personality variables-private self-consciousness and perspective taking-and reported levels of self-disclosure; the second was to examine the links between self-disclosure and reported loneliness. Thus, some of the JR1 and SCS scores included in the current data set were a part of those previous studies as well. Specifically, of the nine “year-grade” groupings in the present study (e.g., 1982 9th grade), three of these were utilized in the other studies (the 1982 10th graders; the 1983 10th and 11th graders).

Measures

As part of larger questionnaire packets, all respondents completed the Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein et al., 1975) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980). The SCS has been widely used in recent years; its three subscales-private self-consciousness, public self-consciousness, and social anxiety-were described earlier, and have been widely employed in numerous empirical investigations (see Buss, 1980, or Carver & Scheier, 1981).

The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980) is a multidimensional


TABLE 1 INTERCORRELATIONS OF SCS AND IRI SCALES AT YEAR 1

PT EC PD FS PR PU SA

PT 1.00 .46’** -.13 .14* .15* .13 .02 EC 1.00 - -07 .23’* .09 .23*“’ .03 PD 1.00 .15* .15* .17* .47*** FS 1.00 .50*** .21** .15* PR 1.00 .36*** .05 PU 1.00 .20** SA 1.00

NOW. PT = Perspective Taking; EC = Empathic Concern; PD = Personal Distress; FS = Fantasy; PR = Private Self-Consciousness; PU = Public Self-Consciousness; SA = Social Anxiety.

* p < .05 ** p -c .Ol

*: * * p < ,001

instrument measuring individual difference in empathic tendencies; it consists of four 7-item subscales-perspective taking, empathic concern, personal distress, and fantasy--each of which was described earlier. Davis (1980) reported adequate internal reliabilities (coefficient (Y ranged from .71 to .77 for the four measures) and test-retest stability (r’s ranged from .62 to .80 over an 8-10 week period), Substantial construct validation of the four scales has also been reported, and was outlined earlier.

RESULTS

Intercorrelation of Measures

Table 1 displays the intercorrelations at Year 1 among the seven measures employed in this investigation. Similar matrices for Year 2 and Year 3 differ in no substantial way; for simplicity, therefore, only the Year 1 correlations are reported. As the table reveals, this sample of adolescents displays associations quite similar to those found in college samples. Re- garding the IRI, a substantial positive correlation was found between perspective taking and empathic concern and a weaker negative one (p < .06) between perspective taking and personal distress, just as in the older samples (Davis, 1980; 1983~). Regarding the SCS, public self-consciousness was found to be significantly positively related to both private self-consciousness and social anxiety, also paralleling the findings with adult samples (Fenigstein et al., 1975). The associations between IRI and SCS scales also tend to replicate previous work with adults. In particular, social anxiety was strongIy associated with personal distress (.47), paralleling the findings of Davis (1983~). Taken as a whole, then, the psy-


TABLE 2 TEST-RETEST CORRELATIONS ACROSS Two I-YEAR TIME PERIODS FOR FULL SAMPLE AND

SEPARATELY BY SEX

Year l-Year 2 Year 2-Year 3 Year l-Year 3 r to 2

Private self-consciousness

Males Females

SO Sl .49

.61 SO 2.27*

.60 .48 1.30 .61 .52 1.73

Public self-consciousness

Males Females

.53 .65 SO ho Sl .68

SO 2.63* .41 1.44 .52 2.67*

Social anxiety .61 .62 Males .61 .60 Females .60 .60

.62 .23

.57 .16

.63 .oo

Perspective taking .61 .65 Males Sl 56 Females .67 .72

..58 .94 SO .70 .63 .9?

Empathic concern .48 Males .51 Females .39

.64 SO

.61 .55

.59 .35

3.34** 1.46 2.66**

Personal distress .58 .62 .59 .89 Males s2 .53 .46 .14 Females .59 .66 .66 1.15

Fantasy .66 .70 .62 1.06 Males ..59 .63 .56 .64 Females .68 .73 .62 1.00

Note. r to Z comparisons test the difference between Year l-Year 2 and Year 2-Year 3 correlations.

* p < .05 ** p < .Ol

chometric “structure” of these measures seems largely the same for the younger sample as it is for college students. Identical matrices were also generated for males and females separately; no appreciable gender differences were apparent.

Stability

Table 2 displays the test-retest correlations for each measure over the 2-year period for all subjects and separately by sex. To determine whether stability increases with age, the Year l-Year 2 correlations were con- trasted with the Year 2-Year 3 correlations using the r-to-2 transfor- mation. All seven scales displayed substantial temporal stability. The av-


erage Year l-Year 2 correlation for the SCS scales was 55, and for the IRI, .58. Year 2-Year 3 correlations were slightly higher: for the SCS, .63; for the IRI, .65.

Virtually every comparison revealed a higher correlation between Year 2 and Year 3 than between Year 1 and Year 2; that is, the stability of these traits seems to have increased with age. Despite this highly consistent pattern, however, the differences between correlations for the full sample achieved statistical significance only three times out of seven comparisons. Two of the three self-consciousness measures exhibited this increase in stability, while only one of the four empathy measures did so. Thus, while trait stability seemed to increase somewhat with age, it was slightly more pronounced for self-consciousness than for empathy.

Mean Comparisons

Separate 2 (Sex) x 3 (Year) repeated measures MANOVAs were carried out for each set of personality variables. For the self-consciousness scales, this analysis revealed a multivariate effect for subject sex, F (3, 212) = 11.62, p < .OOl; no other significant effects emerged. For the empathy scales, significant multivariate effects emerged for sex, F(4, 201) = 14.70, p < .OOl, and for time, F(8, 197) = 7.84, p < .OOl. The Sex x Time interaction was not significant. Table 3 presents the mean scores for males and females on each measure at each of the three assessment periods, and the results of the univariate analyses conducted to follow up on the significant multivariate results.

Sex differences. Main effects for sex emerged for all but one (private self-consciousness) of the seven measures, with females scoring higher on each one. The findings for the IRI scales replicate those reported by Davis (1980), and are consistent with the gender differences generally found for measures of empathy. The finding that females scored significantly higher on public self-consciousness and social anxiety differs from the pattern reported by Fenigstein et al. (1975) for college students; those researchers reported no significant sex differences for any of the three scales.

Changes over time. As expected given the multivariate results, no significant changes over time emerged for the three self-consciousness scales. For the empathy scales, all three of the predicted changes over time emerged; over the 2-year period, perspective taking and empathic concern scores displayed reliable increases, while personal distress displayed a steady and highly significant decrease.

Interactions. No significant Sex x Year interactions were found.

Cohort Analyses

As described earlier, the data corresponding to each “year” in this study came from subjects in different grades and at different times. For


TABLE 3 MEAN PERSONALITY SCORES FOR MALES AND FEMALES AT THREE TIME PERIODS

Trait scale means Univariate F statistics

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Sex Time Sex X time

Private self- consciousness

Males Females

24.93 25.14 25.12 24.65 24.68 24.46 25.23 25.67 25.84

Public self- consciousness

Males Females

Social anxiety Males Females

22.08 21.75 21.63 20.83 20.92 20.49 23.37 22.59 22.88

11.76 11.97 11.59 10.40 11.16 10.81 13.18 12.85 12.44

Perspective taking

Males Females

15.96 16.77 16.91 15.05 16.10 15.96 16.88 17.45 17.94

Empathic concern

Males Females

19.33 19.88 19.98 18.43 18.80 18.55 20.24 20.95 21.51

Personal distress

Males Females

12.22 11.23 10.11 11.36 10.34 9.03 13.06 12.16 11.32

Fantasy 15.98 16.58 16.17 Males 14.60 15.40 14.49 Females 17.39 17.85 18.01

3.14 .79 .67

22.96**+ .94 1.29

14.68*** 1.43 2.60

10.24** 5.29** .60

29.56*** 3.35* 2.34

14.63*** 29.68*** 1.73

20.69*** 2.09 1.81

* p < .05 ** p < .Ol

*** p < .ool

example, Year 1 data came from 1982 10th graders and 1983 9th and 10th graders. This procedure maximizes the sample size, but also leaves open the possibility that what appear to be developmental changes may in fact be the result of differential maturation or time-of-measurement effects. To evaluate this possibility we carried out MANOVA analyses, identical to those already reported, for each of the three separate cohorts making up our sample. The composition of these cohorts is as follows: Cohort A (60 students, 10th graders in 1982, tested in 1982-1984) Cohort B (63


students, 10th graders in 1983, tested in 1983-1985), and Cohort C (93 students, 9th graders in 1983, tested in 1983-1985). If the MANOVAs reveal the same developmental patterns for each of these cohorts, with their different ages and times of study onset, then it becomes more likely that a true developmental change is occurring, and less plausible that the apparent trends are artifactually produced.

The cohort analyses of the SCS largely replicated the pattern for the full sample. The significant multivariate effect for gender in the full sample emerged for Cohorts B and C (both F’s > 3.34; both p’s < .05), but only approached significance for Cohort A, F(3, 56) = 1.86, p < .15. The followup univariate analyses revealed that the same significant gender effects which emerged for public self-consciousness and social anxiety among the full sample also emerged for Cohorts B and C (all F’s > 4.75; all p’s < .05).

The same general pattern was found for the IRI analyses. The multivariate effects for gender and time in the full sample emerged for all three cohorts (for gender, all F’s > 4.84 and all p’s < .05; for time, all F’s > 2.71 and allp’s < .05). The univariate followups revealed a similar pattern. For three of the four IRI scales for which significant univariate gender effects had been found in the full sample (the EC, PD, and FS scales), similar effects also emerged for all three cohorts (all F’s > 4.59; all p’s < .05); a similar gender effect emerged for the PT scale in Cohorts A and C (both F’s > 6.16; both p’s < .Ol). With regard to time effects, all three cohorts displayed the same significant univariate effect as did the full sample for the PD scale (all F’s > 5.60; all p’s < .05), and Cohorts A and B displayed similar time effects for the PT (F’s > 2.46; p’s < .lO) and EC (F’s > 2.55; p’s < .09) scales. As with the full sample, no significant univariate time effects emerged in any cohort for the FS scale. Consistently, then, the cohort analyses produced results similar or identical to those obtained for the full sample. Thus, taken as a whole these analyses strongly suggest that the developmental trends observed in the full sample were not the result of artifacts such as differential maturation or time-of- measurement effects.

DISCUSSION

The goals of this investigation were twofold: to examine evidence for the stability, and for change, in self-consciousness and empathy. These questions were addressed separately, using test-retest correlations as evidence of trait stability and comparisons of mean trait levels as evidence of developmental change. Let us consider each question in turn for both sets of constructs.


Self-Consciousness

Trait stability. The test-retest correlations were all substantial, indi- cating a considerable degree of continuity over the 2-year period covered by the study. These results are consistent with earlier research which found considerable stability in adolescent personality over even longer intervals (e.g., Block, 1971; Stein et al., 1986). There was also some evidence that self-consciousness stability increases with age. For both private and public self-consciousness, the Year 2-Year 3 correlations were significantly stronger than the Year l-Year 2 correlations. This is also consistent with the Stein et al. (1986) results, in which the vast majority of the statistical comparisons between early and later stability measures were significant. No similar pattern was observed for social anxiety.

Developmental change. Adolescence is widely considered to be a time of heightened self-consciousness. While this may be true, the present findings revealed no change in any variety of self-consciousness during the 2-year testing period. These findings do not necessarily mean that increases or decreases in self-consciousness do not occur in adolescence, but may simply indicate that such changes do not reliably exhibit them- selves over a consecutive 2-year period in middle adolescence. The age range in this sample may simply have been too narrow to include the beginning or ending of this period of elevated self-attention, thus providing no opportunity for a significant increase or decrease to appear.

Gender diflerences. Based upon societal stereotypes of women as more aware of and attentive to their public style and appearance, Fenigstein et al. (1975) had originally expected to find gender differences, especially for public self-consciousness, with their college sample; none, however, were found. In the current investigation, significant gender differences of the pattern expected by Fenigstein et al. were found for both of the dispositional measures of public awareness and concern: public self-consciousness and social anxiety. These results support the possibility, then, that middle adolescence may be a time of heightened public self-attention more for females than for males.

This possibility is bolstered by a comparison of the SCS scores at Year 3 with the SCS scores of the college sample used by Fenigstein et al. (1975). Although clearly post hoc, it is useful to note that the public self- consciousness scores for both college males (18.9) and college females (19.3) are significantly lower than for Year 3 of the high school sample (both t’s > 3.14; p’s < .Ol). The decline among females (3.58 scale points) was larger, however, than for males (1.59), reinforcing the notion that sensitivity about appearance may be especially heightened for females during middle adolescence.


Empathy

Trait stability. As with the self-consciousness measures, the test-retest correlations for the four empathy scales were substantial. Thus, for both sets of measures, results replicate past studies showing personality stability among adolescents. While the Year 2-Year 3 correlations were generally stronger than the Year l-Year 2 correlations, in only one case (empathic concern) did the comparison attain significance. Thus, in contrast to self- consciousness, there is less evidence that empathic tendencies become more stable during middle adolescence.

Developmental change. Whereas self-consciousness in its various forms remained essentially unchanged, both perspective taking and empathic concern demonstrated the predicted increases over time, and personal distress exhibited the predicted decline. This pattern is consistent with Hoffman’s developmental account of empathic processes, which holds that an increasing capacity for role-taking gradually transforms the personal, “selfish” distress reaction into a more other-oriented reaction of sympathy and compassion. Significantly, the results also indicate that even well into adolescence individual differences in these constructs follow the developmental pattern advanced by Hoffman concerning younger individuals.

These findings also reinforce an earlier pattern of support for Hoffman’s model resulting from the intercorrelations among the perspective taking, empathic concern, and personal distress scales of the IRI. In several investigations using adult samples (Clary & Miller, 1987; Davis, 1983~; Romer et al., 1986), perspective taking has consistently displayed a significant positive correlation with empathic concern (ranging from .30 to .38, with a mean of .33) and a negative correlation with personal distress (ranging from - .16 to - .39, with a mean of - .26). This pattern is therefore consistent with Hoffman’s view that increased perspective taking tends to decrease personal distress and enhance other-oriented emotions.

It should be reiterated that Hoffman’s model concerns the development of role-taking ability in children and its impact on the child’s capacity for emotional response. In contrast, the correlational findings just described demonstrate that a dispositional tendency to engage in perspective taking is positively related to dispositional tendencies toward sympathy and neg- atively related to dispositional tendencies toward personal distress. Like- wise, the present finding of a predictable developmental course of IRI scores during adolescence reveals changes in self-reported behavioral tendencies rather than abilities. In a sense, then, the changes in empathic tendencies during middle adolescence can be considered an “echo” of the earlier developmental sequence regarding empathic capabilities that Hoff- man describes.


Gender differeences. Consistent with the findings of previous empirical studies (e.g., Davis, 1980; Feshbach, 1982; Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972), and with a review of the literature on sex differences in empathy (Hoff- man, 1977), females in this study displayed a higher level of empathy than did males on all four measures. Also consistent with Hoffman’s review is the fact that the largest differences between males and females in this investigation were found for the three empathy scales involving an affective component: the EC, PD, and FS scales. Hoffman reported that females and males differed the least on cognitive empathy measures and differed the most on those involving emotional arousal. In the present study, the smallest difference between males and females, although significant, was found for the cognitive PT scale (mean difference across years was 1.72 scale points).

Possible Limitations and Conclusions

A possible limitation of the present study involves the representativeness of the sample. Because our participants were drawn from a small high school in northern Michigan, it can be argued that the developmental patterns found for this group should be considered tentative in the absence of corroborating evidence from other locales. While this note of caution is well-taken, and similar research with other samples is thus highly de- sirable, the fact that many of the findings in the present study (especially those regarding empathy) replicate previous research gives us greater confidence in the sample’s representativeness.

Another limitation has to do with possible retesting effects. Respondents completed the same measures three different times, and the possibility exists that a desire to appear consistent may have affected later responses. Although such effects are always a possibility in any retesting of self- report measures, the l-year intervals between each measurement occasion seem to us long enough to minimize this possibility.

Finally, what conclusions, however tentative, can be drawn from this study? The main findings support the concept of simultaneous stability and predictable change in empathy during middle adolescence, and indicate an increasing stability but little mean change in self-attention. In addition, gender differences in empathy and public self-consciousness (but not private self-consciousness) appear to exist during adolescence, and are largely consistent with prior theoretical and empirical work. Given the current popularity of the SCS, and the likelihood that the IRI will also be a widely used device, we see these results as both useful and quite encouraging. In particular, it is important that even for a younger-than- typical sample the personality dimensions measured by these instruments were quite stable. Such findings tend to indicate that the heavy use of college-aged respondents has not made self-consciousness research vul-


nerable to the criticism that dispositional self-consciousness tendencies are unstable constructs at this time of life.

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