Private self-consciousness as a moderator of the relationship between value orientations and attitudes

The author examined implications of private self-consciousness (PrivSC; Fen igstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975) for the relationships between social values and issue attitudes. Indeed. the author expected that the value orientatio ns of authoritarianism and individualism would shape attitudes toward physi cian-assisted suicide. Values and attitudes were consistent in the high-Pri vSC participants, who tended to be more aware of different beliefs held sim ultaneously than were the low-PrivSC participants. However, for the low-Pri vSC individuals, there was no relationship between values and attitudes. Th e results of 2 studies among U.S. undergraduate students confirmed these pr edictions.