EXPERIMENT 5

Robson’s Self Concept Questionnaire (SCQ)

Experimentor : V.V. Date:______

Introduction
Self refers to the totality of an individual’s conscious experiences, ideas,
thoughts and feelings with regard to herself or himself. In a social world, our
past and future may influence what we want to be. People turn to a social
world to meet their expectations in life, interact, and understand what they
mean to the world. We have a given attitude toward a social world. A social
world may influence how we will interact with others, what we or others may
perceive as acceptable. Such acceptable influences may guide our behaviors.
A person has three concepts of self, which include “self-efficacy, self-esteem,
and self-concept” (Myers, 2010).
The way we perceive ourselves and the ideas we hold about our
competencies and attributes is also called self-concept. At a very general
level, this view of oneself is, overall, either positive or negative. According to
Baumeister, self-concept refers to “an individual’s belief about himself or
herself, including personal attributes and what the self is from one’s
perspective” (Baumeister, 1999). The most frequently used method involves
asking the person about herself/ himself. The construct of global self-
concept represents one's overall feelings toward oneself, or what is
traditionally known as self-esteem.
The individual’s personal judgment of her or his own worth; one’s attitude
toward oneself along a positive-negative dimension is called self esteem.
Some people have high self-esteem, whereas others may have low self-
esteem. In order to assess self-esteem we present a variety of statements to
a person, and ask her/ him to indicate the extent to which those statements
are true for her or him.
Studies indicate that by the age of 6 to 7 years, children seem to have
formed self-esteem at least in four areas: academic competence, social
competence, physical/ athletic competence, and physical appearance, which
become more refined with age. Self-esteem shows a strong relationship with
our everyday behaviour.
The notion of self-efficacy is based on Bandura’s social learning theory. Self-
efficacy is Bandura’s term for the individual’s beliefs about her or his own
effectiveness; the expectation that one can master a situation and produce
positive outcomes. A strong sense of self-efficacy allows people to select,
influence, and even construct the circumstances of their own life. People
with a strong sense of self-efficacy also feel less fearful. Self-efficacy can be
developed.
Aim:
To assess the self-concept of the subject using the Robson’s Self Concept
Questionnaire
Materials Required:
1. Robson’s SC questionnaire
2. Manual
3. Writing materials
Description:
The SCQ is a self-report scale measuring self-esteem (Robson, 1989). It
consists of 30 items. The items are based on seven components of self-
esteem, according to theoretical and empirical information reviewed by
Robson (1988).
Robson (1989) gathered questions that were supposed to be part of the
following seven domains of self-esteem: (1) subjective sense of significance,
(2) worthiness, (3) appearance and social acceptability, (4) competence, (5)
resilience and determination, (6) control over personal destiny, and (7) the
value of existence.
The scoring is performed on an eight-point scale, ranging from completely
disagree to completely agree. The SCQ has been proven to have good
reliability (Cronbach’s α of .89) and good validity (clinical validity of .70).
Procedure:
The subject is made to sit comfortably and a rapport is built with the
subject. The subject is briefed about the test and the following instructions
are given.
Instructions:
“Here is a very simple test that deals with attitudes and beliefs which you
have about yourself. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with
each statement by ringing the single number in each section which
represents how you typically feel most of the time. Please check that you
have responded to every statement. Remember, there is no right or wrong
answer and this is just one measure of yourself.”
Scoring:
The scoring of the test involves the following steps:
1. Questions 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 24, 26, 29, and 30 are given
the same score as the number against which the subject has marked.
2. the scoring is reversed for Questions 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21,
22, 23, 25, 27, and 28, i.e., if the subject marked ‘0’, that question will be
given a score of ‘7’.
3. The total is summed up.
4. Higher scores indicate a more positive self-concept and lower scored
indicate a negative self-concept.
5. The mean for the general population is 155.
Result:
Table 5.1 shows the result of the subject on the Robson’s SCQ.
The subject has scored________ which indicates_______.
Conclusion:
The score of the subject could indicate_____________.