Self-Concept Clarity Scale

What it measures

Low SCC individuals experience conflict between different self-beliefs, feel uncertain about who they are, and perceive their self-concept as unstable. High SCC individuals have a clear, coherent, and stable sense of their personal attributes. SCC correlates positively with self-esteem (r=0.60–0.67) and negatively with negative affectivity (r=–0.49 to –0.51). Western (Canadian) students score significantly higher on SCC than Eastern (Japanese) students, consistent with cultural differences in self-clarity. In consumer research, SCC is used as a moderator of self-congruity effects, brand identity fit, and responses to identity-threatening consumption contexts.

Response format

5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree); items summed (range 12–60); items 1–5, 7–10, and 12 are reverse-scored

Scale items

• My beliefs about myself often conflict with one another. (R)
• On one day I might have one opinion of myself and on another day I might have a different opinion. (R)
• I spend a lot of time wondering about what kind of person I really am. (R)
• Sometimes I feel that I am not really the person that I appear to be. (R)
• When I think about the kind of person I have been in the past, I'm not sure what I was really like. (R)
• I seldom experience conflict between the different aspects of my personality.
• Sometimes I think I know other people better than I know myself. (R)
• My beliefs about myself seem to change very frequently. (R)
• If I were asked to describe my personality, my description might end up being different from one day to another day. (R)
• Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could tell someone what I'm really like. (R)
• In general, I have a clear sense of who I am and what I am.
• It is often hard for me to make up my mind about things because I don't really know what I want. (R)

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

All items except item 6 and item 11 require reverse-scoring before summing (items 1–5, 7–10, and 12 are reverse-scored). Test-retest reliability over 4–5 months: r=0.70–0.79. Modest social desirability correlation (r=0.32–0.33). SCC is related to but distinct from self-esteem — it captures clarity of self-knowledge, not valence of self-evaluation. Canadian mean score approx. 40; Japanese mean score approx. 35, reflecting cultural differences in self-concept structure.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Campbell, J.D., Trapnell, P.D., Heine, S.J., Katz, I.M., Lavallee, L.F., & Lehman, D.R. (1996). Self-concept clarity: Measurement, personality correlates, and cultural boundaries. Journal of Personality, 64(1), 141–156.

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