Private self-consciousness and the five-factor model of personality: Distinguishing rumination from reflection

A distinction between ruminative and reflective types of private self-atten tiveness is introduced and evaluated with respect to L. R. Goldberg's (1982 ) list of 1,710 English trait adjectives (Study 1), the five-factor model o f personality (FFM) and A. Fenigstein, M. F. Scheier, and A. Buss's(1975) S elf-Consciousness Scales (Study 2), and previously reported correlates and effects of private self-consciousness (PrSC; Studies 3 and 4). Results sugg est that the PrSC scale confounds two unrelated motivationally distinct dis position-rumination and reflection-and that this confounding may account fo r the "self-absorption paradox" implicit in PrSC research findings: Higher PrSC sources are associated with more accurate and extensive self-knowledge yet higher levels of psychological distress. The potential of the FFM to p rovide a comprehensive Framework for conceptualizing self-attentive disposi tions, and to order and integrate research findings within this domain, is discussed.