Definition
Conceptually, self-complexity refers to the extent to which a person organizes self-knowledge into independent self-aspects. Operationally, there are numerous approaches to measuring self-complexity and considerable debate about the merit and validity of each approach. However, across these measures, self-complexity is generally conceived as existing on a continuum, such that having few overlapping self-aspects is lower self-complexity while having many unrelated self-aspects is greater self-complexity. Self-complexity is primarily studied for its role in current mood and overall well-being.
Introduction
Knowledge about oneself (e.g., semantic traits, episodic memories) is the self-concept’s content, while how that information is organized (e.g., number of self-aspects) is the self-concept’s structure (McConnell 2011). Self-complexity is one theoretical approach to understanding self-concept structure. It defines self-concept structure as the frequency of distinct,...
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Brown, C.M. (2020). Self-Complexity. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_2000
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_2000
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