SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SIMULATED SELF

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and the Telic Dominance Scale were administered on three occasions to 28 males and 28 females. At the first and second sessions they completed the inventories as though they were their ideal or their worst self, and, at the third session, were asked to report truthfully and accurately on their real self. In general the worst self was more neurotic, more introverted, more psychotic, more telic dominant and more externally oriented than the ideal self and showed low social desirability and Lie Scale scores. Ideal self report produces a marked tendency towards a need for social approval and virtuousness. For extraversion, psychoticism, and locus of control scores, the real self was not significantly different from the ideal self. If real self report reflects the truth, then this finding lends support to the assertion that these scales are not affected by tendencies to idealize the self. There are significant differences in telic dominance scores and (not surprisingly) in Lie Scale and social desirability scores. Significant Sex x Scale interactions produced the suggestion that inviting respondents to complete inventories in accord with a simulated self may offer a way of exploring desired and undesired stereotypical profiles.