The Effect of Intelligence Test Feedback Upon Self-Concept as Measured by the EPPS

• Main Author: Heeter, Gregory
• Format: Others
• Published: TopSCHOLAR® 1980
• Subjects: Psychology; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2474; https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3468&context=theses

Previous research on the nature of the self-concept generally suggests that this particular construct is broad, stable, and not easily altered. Yet, current practice regarding the feedback of information concerning one's intelligence quotient remains restrictive and unresponsive to this evidence. Individuals are protected from the knowledge of their test results ostensibly to prevent harmful effects upon their self-images. The present study focused on the impact of learning one's assessed intelligence quotient upon needs taken from a measure of self-report. It was predicted that subjects who had received feedback accurately specifying their intelligence quotients and who had reported discrepancies between this score and the quotient they had expected to receive would score no differently from persons in control groups who had not been given their IQ scores. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was administered to twenty-seven college males and fifty college females, while the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule was administered to all of these subjects and to an additional control group of twenty-one. A Hotelling's T2 test was performed to assess differences between the mean raw scores of the experimental and control groups on ten EPPS scales. The results of this analysis did not indicate a significant alteration in self-concept following IQ feedback. This occurred even though the feedback was subjectively reported to be discrepant from the subject's own earlier estimates.