SENSE OF SELF IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM: MALE AND FEMALE STUDENT RESPONSES TO THE TST

Abstract

The Twenty Statements Test (TST) measures how an individual locates the self within a social system, while providing an index of differentially organized self-related information across individuals. The TST was utilized to follow changes in North American self-conceptions from the early 1950s to the 1990s. The purpose of this study was to assess sense of self among 324 millennial undergraduate students using the four-referential frame coding scheme. Results supported the hypothesis that students represent their sense of self as primarily C mode (or reflective). There were no gender differences in social self-description. Findings are discussed in terms of comparative data, gender differences, and sociohistorical context.