Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: January 14, 2013
Last Modified: January 06, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements the Selves Questionnaire as described by Dr. E. T. Higgins:
Higgins Lab: https://higginsweb.psych.columbia.edu/research/
5 minutes
participants are asked to list 10 (default) attributes for actual, ideal, ought self
• 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."
Instructions are not original to the task. They are provided by Millisecond
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).
File Name: selvesquestionnaire_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| inquisit.version | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| startDate | Date the session was run |
| startTime | Time the session was run |
| subjectId | Participant ID |
| groupId | Group number |
| sessionId | Session number |
| elapsedTime | Session duration in ms |
| completed | 0 = Test was not completed 1 = Test was completed |
File Name: selvesquestionnaire_raw*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| build | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| date | Date the session was run |
| time | Time the session was run |
| subject | Participant ID |
| group | Group number |
| session | Session number |
| blockCode | Name of the current block |
| blockNum | Number of the current block |
| trialCode | Name of the current trial |
| trialNum | Number of the current trial |
| 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 |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| numberofAttributes | Sets how many attributes participants are supposed to list | 10 |