SELF-CONCEPT OF MARRIED PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT AND HIS MATES PERCEPTION OF HIM

26 married psychiatric patients and their spouses were administered a 50-item questionnnaire to assess their concepts of themselves and of each other 1 wk. after acute hospitalization and then again 7 wk. later. Ss' initial self-images and their mates' perception of them were both more negative than their own and their spouses' images of the average person. Ss and their mates viewed the S as the most disturbed family member with both seeing the spouse in a more positive light than the S. Ss' self-images improved during hospitalization. The spouses' images of the Ss also tended to become more positive, but the spouses still viewed the Ss more negatively than themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.