Return to the Selves Questionnaire page
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*SELVES QUESTIONNAIRE*
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 01-14-2013
last updated: 10-23-2019 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 10-23-2019 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements the Selves Questionnaire as described by Dr. E. T. Higgins:
Higgins Lab: http://higginsweb.psych.columbia.edu/research/
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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participants are asked to list 10 (default) attributes for actual, ideal, ought self
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 5 minutes to complete
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DATA FILE INFORMATION
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The default data stored in the data files are:
(1) Raw data file: 'selvesquestionnaire_raw*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
build: The specific Inquisit version used (the 'build') that was run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
date, time, date and time script was run
subject, group, with the current subject/groupnumber
script.sessionid: with the current session id
blockcode, blocknum: the name and number of the current block (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialcode, trialnum: the name and number of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable)
Note: trialnum is a built-in Inquisit variable; it counts all trials run; even those
that do not store data to the data file such as feedback trials. Thus, trialnum
may not reflect the number of main trials run per block.
stimulusitem: the presented stimuli in order of trial presentation
response: the participant's response (scancode of response buttons)
latency: the response latency (in ms); measured from: trial onset
(2) Summary data file: 'selvesquestionnaire_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
script.startdate: date script was run
script.starttime: time script was started
script.subjectid: assigned subject id number
script.groupid: assigned group id number
script.sessionid: assigned session id number
script.elapsedtime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
script.completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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* 3 blocks (block.ideal, block.actual, block.ought) by default are called randomly without replacement. To change this to
a sequential call, go to EXPERIMENT-> exp and change how the blocks are called.
Taken from Higgins Lab:
"In the following questionnaire, you will be asked to list the attributes of the type of
person you think you actually, ideally, and ought to be:
Actual self: Your beliefs concerning the attributes you think you actually possess.
Ideal self: Your beliefs concerning the attributes you would like ideally to possess; your
ultimate goals for yourself.
Ought self: Your beliefs concerning the attributes you believe you should or ought to
possess; your normative rules or prescriptions for yourself.
Each page of the questionnaire focuses on a different domain (i.e., actual, ideal, and
ought self-concepts are written about on three different pages).
Calculating Self-Discrepancy:
(a) Compare the attributes listed for the actual self-concept with those listed for the
ideal self-concept. Determine which attributes match (appear on the lists for both
actual self-concept and ideal self-concept), and which attributes mismatch (i.e., an
attribute on one self-concept list is the opposite or an antonym of an attribute on
another self-concept list). Synonyms and antonyms are operationally defined in
terms of Roget’s Thesaurus. Repeat the process for the actual self-concept list and
the ought self-concept list.
(b) Calculate the self-discrepancy score by subtracting the total number of actualideal
matches from the total number of actual-ideal mismatches. The same
calculation is used for the actual-ought self-discrepancy score."
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INSTRUCTIONS
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Instructions are not original to the task. They are provided by Millisecond Software
as htm/html pages and can be edited by changing the provided htm/html files.
To edit htm/html-files: open the respective documents in simple Text Editors such as TextEdit (Mac)
or Notepad (Windows).
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EDITABLE CODE
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check below for (relatively) easily editable parameters, stimuli, instructions etc.
Keep in mind that you can use this script as a template and therefore always "mess" with the entire code to further customize your experiment.
The parameters you can change are:
/numberofattributes: sets how many attributes participants are supposed to list (default: 10)