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Sociology 141
answers to themselves. A content analysis of the answers divides them into consensual
(referring to groups and classes with conditions of membership that are
common knowledge), such as ‘student’, ‘girl’, ‘husband’ - and subconsensual
(referring to groups, classes, traits which require interpretation by the respondent),
such as ‘happy’, ‘too heavy’, ‘interesting’. People vary widely in the volume
and components of their answers, but tend to give consensual answers first,
which ‘place the individual in a social system’.
In order to obtain self-concepts for a general population, Mulford and Salisbury
administered a modified TST to a sample, representing the adult Iowa
population.z08 Of 13 categories of self-definition, four obtain highest mention:
marital status and role, all types of nuclear family status and role, religious
identity, and occupation. Moderate mention is given to sex, age, extended
family and non-family groups. Almost no one mentions education, race, class
or ethnic origin, These differences hold up when data are analysed by sex, age,
sex and age, marital status, and by occupation.
Simpson and Simpson hypothesized that people in low status occupations
may seize upon some aspect of their work which is highly valued,either in
society or in a work subculture and build a self-image around it.209 In the case
of service personnel in a psychiatric ward, the basis on which they maintain a
favourable occupational self-image is by focusing on ‘care of the patient’. A
random selection of 15 percent of the attendants in five hospitals in North
Carolina was interviewed to determine why they had chosen the job and why
they had stayed on the job. Answers were coded for intrinsic (pertaining to
work) and extrinsic (pertaining to externals of the job) reasons. The interviews
were repeated after a few months, and the authors found a general trend from
extrinsic to intrinsic reasons for those who stay. They suggest that the selfimage
which emphasizes patient care is acquired from the subculture of the
hospital, where care of the patient was the most important duty.
Self-conceptions of executives and supervisors are contrasted in a study by
Coates and Pellegrin, as the question of why certain individuals achieve more
vertical mobility and career success than others is considered.ZrO Standard interviews
with open-ended questions and a preconceived list of attributes were
given to 50 top line executives in 30 large businesses and 50 first line supervisors
in the same or similar large Southern cities. A content analysis of attributes
mentioned by at least 15 persons showed these claims for self by the executives :
more energy, alertness, initiative, aggression, understanding of and manipulation
of people. Subordinates were seen as having less of these. Supervisors
conceded to executives the qualities that executives allotted to themselves : the
majority said they would not, if they were starting over, like to become executives,
as there were too many worries in the job. The authors see superiors as
judging subordinates in terms of their own self image, and subordinates as
using the superior’s image in their views. Subordinates account for the difference
in terms of higher education and socio- and cultural advantages. Both are
seen to know the rewards and penalties of being an executive, but this influences
the two groups differentially in terms of their own achievement desires.
The methodological problems of developing scales of self-esteem have been