Study of ideal-self discrepancy and observed social behaviors in a therapeutic community

This descriptive study explored relations between ideal self-discrepancy (often referred to as self-esteem or self-concept) and behaviors observed in 27 residents of a therapeutic community for polydrug users. The Sliding Person Test (SPERT), an abstract, nonverbal measure of self-reported, ideal self-discrepancy was administered three times a week, for seven consecutive weeks to 27 subjects after regularly scheduled group meetings. Data were charted on graphs to reveal fluctuations of ideal self-discrepancy and incidences of observed, documented changes in behavior. Analysis suggests the instrument detects some changes in ideal self-discrepancy congruent with transitional behaviors. In more than half of the cases, fluctuation of 25% or more in discrepancy between ideal self-concept and at-the-moment self-concept was directly related to an observed change in behavior or residents' transition in the hierarchy of the program's structure. Implications for validity and reliability issues concerning measures of ideal-self-discrepancy are briefly discussed.