Self-Image Stability: The Problem of Validation

Abstract

An effort to subject various measures of self-image stability to certain criteria for validation was made. The measures used did not meet the specified criteria. Some of the problems in defining the concept and some of the measuring problems are discussed. It was felt that self-image stability may not be a global generalized trait but rather one that contains specific components not necessarily related to one another. The work calls attention to a necessary caution with respect to measures of self-image stability that have been used in research or may continue to be used without the benefit of necessary validation.