The Structure of the Self‐Concept and Its Relation to Psychological Adjustment

Abstract Research on the relation between the structure of the self‐concept and psychological adjustment has produced seemingly inconsistent findings. Some research suggests that greater pluralism in self‐concept structure enhances adjustment, whereas other research suggests that greater unity in the structure enhances adjustment. Four studies examined the relations among measures of self‐concept structure and their relations with adjustment. The measures of self‐concept structure included two that we viewed as reflecting self‐concept pluralism (self‐complexity and self‐concept compartmentalization) and four that we viewed as reflecting self‐concept unity (self‐concept differentiation, self‐concept clarity, self‐discrepancies, and the average correlation among participants' self‐aspects). The measures of self‐concept pluralism were unrelated to one another, were unrelated to the measures of self‐concept unity, and were unrelated to the measures of adjustment. The measures of self‐concept unity were moderately related to one another and were moderately related to the measures of adjustment.