RELATIONS BETWEEN GLOBAL AND SPECIFIC DOMAINS OF SELF - THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL IMPORTANCE, CERTAINTY, AND IDEALS

Two studies evaluated theoretical models of how global self-esteem is related to self-perceptions. importance, certainty, and actual-ideal d iscrepancies in specific domains. Study 1 supported differentially wei ghting specific domains; global school esteem was substantially more c orrelated with self-perceptions in core school subjects than in noncor e subjects. Neither study, however, supported individually weighting s pecific domains according to importance, certainty, actual-ideal discr epancies, or profile similarity components for each individual. For ex ample, whereas one specific domain may be more important than others a cross all individuals, its effect does not vary for individuals who ju dge the domain as more or less important. This distinction is clarifie d by an extension of H. W. Marsh's (1986) generalized multiple regress ion approach used to test theoretical predictions based on weighted av erage models.