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The Journal of Psychology:
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Insight, Rumination, and Self-
Reflection as Predictors of
Well-Being
Rick Harrington a & Donald A. Loffredo a
a University of Houston–Victoria
Published online: 04 Dec 2010.
To cite this article: Rick Harrington & Donald A. Loffredo (2010) Insight, Rumination,
and Self-Reflection as Predictors of Well-Being, The Journal of Psychology:
Interdisciplinary and Applied, 145:1, 39-57, DOI: 10.1080/00223980.2010.528072
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Insight, Rumination, and Self-Reflection
as Predictors of Well-Being
RICK HARRINGTON
DONALD A. LOFFREDO
University of Houston–Victoria
ABSTRACT. Dispositional private self-focused attention variables such as insight, internal
self-awareness (ISA), and self-reflectiveness (SR) have been found to relate to well-being.
The present study sought to determine which dispositional private self-focused attention
variables have the most predictive power for subjective well-being as measured by the
Satisfaction With Life Scale (E. Diener, R. A. Emmons, R. J. Larsen, & S. Griffin, 1985) and
for a eudaemonic form of well-being as measured by the Psychological Well-Being Scale
(C. D. Ryff, 1989). A total of 121 college student participants completed an online version of
the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised, the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire, the Self-
Reflection and Insight Scale, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the Psychological Well-
Being Scale. Results of a multivariate regression analysis using the Self-Consciousness
Scale–Revised’s (M. F. Scheier & C. S. Carver, 1985) subfactors of SR and ISA, the
Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s (P. D. Trapnell & J. D. Campbell, 1999) subscales
of Rumination and Reflection, and the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s (A. M. Grant,
J. Franklin, & P. Langford, 2002) Self-Reflection and Insight subscales revealed that the
Insight subscale was the only statistically significant predictor (a positive predictor) for all
6 dimensions of psychological well-being. Insight was also the only significant positive
predictor for satisfaction with life. The Rumination subscale was a significant negative
predictor for 3 dimensions of psychological well-being, and the Reflection subscale was a
significant positive predictor for 1 dimension. Implications of dispositional self-awareness
variables and their relation to dimensions of well-being are discussed.
Keywords: insight, private self-consciousness, rumination, self-reflection, well-being
FOR CENTURIES, PHILOSOPHERS HAVE PONDERED the nature of happi-
ness and the good life, but only in recent decades have psychologists concentrated
research efforts in the area. Several constructs have been proposed to capture
the essence of happiness including, among others, subjective well-being (Diener,
1984) and psychological well-being (Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Keyes, 1995; Ryff &
Address correspondence to Rick Harrington, School of Arts and Sciences, University of
Houston–Victoria, Victoria, TX 77901, USA; harringtonr@uhv.edu (e-mail).
39
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40 The Journal of Psychology
Singer, 1996). Subjective well-being refers to one’s cognitive and affective evalua-
tions of life satisfaction, whereas psychological well-being refers to the satisfaction
of particular needs that lead to well-being such as autonomy, environmental mas-
tery, and purpose in life. Psychological well-being as proposed by Ryff (1989)
corresponds more closely to the eudaemonist theories of the ancient Greeks, who
based an understanding of happiness on following prescriptive practices (e.g.,
Aristotle’s teachings that happiness could be attained by following certain virtues)
rather than on making subjective judgments about one’s emotional states or overall
life satisfaction (as defined by subjective well-being). Although many variables
related to well-being have been examined, one area that has rarely been explored
is self-consciousness, yet the ability to privately self-focus attention would ap-
pear to be a sine qua non for personal growth and psychological well-being. The
present study was designed to determine the specific forms of dispositional private
self-focus that best predict both subjective and psychological well-being.
Although private self-consciousness is associated with positive characteristics
such as possessing a greater level of self-understanding (Darvill, Johnson, &
Danko, 1992) and being more open to experiences (Scandell, 1998; Trapnell &
Campbell, 1999), it is also linked to negative experiences and characteristics such
as depression (Ingram & Smith, 1984), anxiety (Wells, 1985), and neuroticism
(Trapnell & Campbell, 1999). Trapnell and Campbell (1999, p. 286) call this dual
nature of private self-consciousness the “self-absorption paradox.”
Private self-consciousness, at least as measured by Fenigstein, Scheier, and
Buss’s (1975) scale, refers to a dispositional tendency to focus on one’s in-
ner thoughts and feelings. It appears to be a two-subfactor construct with each
subfactor representing opposing elements of the self-absorption paradox. Fac-
tor analytic studies of private self-consciousness as measured by Fenigstein and
colleagues’ scale have consistently revealed the presence of these two private self-
consciousness subfactors, which are labeled internal self-awareness (ISA) and
self- reflectiveness (e.g., Anderson, Bohon, & Berrigan, 1996; Burnkrant & Page,
1984; Creed & Funder, 1998; Kingree & Ruback, 1996; Piliavin & Charng, 1988).
Self-reflectiveness (SR) is a tendency to focus on oneself repeatedly, whereas
ISA represents a tendency to maintain a general awareness of one’s feelings and
mental processes. Although researchers have found that high SR scores are asso-
ciated with mild psychopathological traits and tendencies including neuroticism
(Creed & Funder, 1998); lower self-esteem and higher trait anxiety and depres-
sion (Anderson et al., 1996); excessive rumination (Trapnell & Campbell, 1999);
and more social anxiety, guilt, and shame (Watson, Morris, Ramsey, Hickman,
& Waddell, 1996), these same investigators have generally found an inverse re-
lationship of these variables with high ISA. Harrington and Loffredo (2007) also
found a positive relationship between ISA and psychological well-being. Thus,
in general, research findings have demonstrated that SR tendencies to self-focus
are associated with less well-being, whereas ISA tendencies are associated with
greater well-being.
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Harrington & Loffredo 41
Although the use of the SR and ISA subfactors of the Private Self-
Consciousness Scale has helped researchers to advance understanding of the
different types of self-focus dispositions and their relationships with life satis-
faction and mild psychopathological variables, use of these subfactors has been
criticized, primarily on psychometric grounds (e.g., Bernstein, Teng, & Garbin,
1986). Issues include the small number of items used for each, resulting in inade-
quate reliabilities; the multiple scoring systems used; and the overlapping variance
of the two factors.
In response to these and other criticisms, two new instruments have been
developed to measure a dispositional tendency toward private self-focus that
meet more rigorous psychometric standards. These are the Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire and the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale. Trapnell and Campbell
(1999) developed the 24-item Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire and found an
independent factor for both subscales (Rumination and Reflection) as well as a
respectable coefficient alpha in the low .90s. The Rumination subscale measures
a tendency to repeatedly self-focus on one’s past actions, and the Reflection sub-
scale measures a philosophical love of self-exploration. The authors constructed
the Rumination subscale to capture the self-focused dimensions of Neuroticism
(see Big-Five personality factors; Costa & McCrae, 1985) and constructed the
Reflection subscale to capture the self-focused dimensions for Openness to Ex-
perience. Although the Rumination subscale has similarities to SR of the Private
Self-Consciousness Scale, its authors noted that the Rumination–Reflection Ques-
tionnaire subscales are not intended to be and are not equivalents to the SR or ISA
subfactors of the Private Self-Consciousness Scale.
Grant, Franklin, and Langford’s (2002) Self-Reflection and Insight Scale was
designed to be an improvement over the Private Self-Consciousness Scale and
was written with the idea that private self-consciousness embodies two subfactors
similar to those found for the Private Self-Consciousness Scale, a self-reflection
scale and an insight scale. The authors reported that their Self-Reflection subscale
has a relatively high coefficient alpha (the low .90s) and that their Insight subscale
has a slightly lower alpha, though in the reasonably high range (the high .80s).
Grant et al. found a positive correlation of r=.59 for the Self-Reflection and Insight
Scale with the Private Self-Consciousness Scale but did not report any correlations
between their subscales and the Private Self-Consciousness Scale subfactors of
SR and ISA. Paralleling the findings for SR and ISA, those researchers discovered
that their Self-Reflection subscale positively correlated with anxiety and stress
variables, and that, as predicted, their Insight subscale negatively correlated with
these same variables.
It appears that only one study to date, by Lyke (2009), has examined the
relationship between Grant et al.’s (2002) Self-Reflection and Insight Scale and
well-being. To our knowledge, no study has used Trapnell and Campbell’s (1999)
Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire to predict well-being. It should be noted that
Elliott and Coker (2008) did use derived items from the Rumination–Reflection
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42 The Journal of Psychology
Questionnaire and a measure of happiness, but unfortunately, because they modi-
fied items from Trapnell and Campbell’s scale, their results do not speak directly
to the scale’s overlap with well-being.
Lyke (2009) found that subjects grouped into low, medium, and high cate-
gories of Insight as measured by the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale reported
greater subjective well-being when their insight levels were high. She used the
Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomyrsky & Lepper, 1999) and the Satisfaction
With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) to evaluate subjective
well-being. There was a significant positive correlation of r=.38 between scores
for Insight and the Subjective Happiness Scale as well as the same correlation
(r=.38) between Insight and the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Although the In-
sight subscale correlated positively with her measure of happiness and well-being,
the Self-Reflection subscale showed almost a zero correlation.
Most of the well-being research including Lyke’s (2009) uses subjective well-
being. However, Kesebir and Diener (2008) stress the importance of also exploring
the eudaemonistic approaches to well-being such as psychological well-being. The
present study sought to include the eudaemonistic concept of well-being by using
Ryff’s (1989) Psychological Well-Being Scale, which conceptualizes well-being
as prescribed by the six dimensions of self-acceptance, positive relations with
others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth.
In addition, a traditional measure of subjective well-being was employed, the
Satisfaction With Life Scale, which (as previously described) measures one’s
subjective cognitive assessment of one’s life based on one’s personal criteria for
life satisfaction.
Although Lyke’s (2009) study employed the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale
as the sole measure of two unique dimensions of disposition toward self-focused
attention, we employed it, the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire, and a re-
vised version of the Private Self-Consciousness Scale (Private Self-Consciousness
Scale–Revised). In total, we used six private self-focus variables including the
two Self-Reflection and Insight Scale subscales, the two Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire subscales, and the two subfactors of the Private Self-Consciousness
Scale–Revised to determine the best dispositional private self-focused attention
predictor variables of both a eudaemonistic concept of well-being (as measured
by the Psychological Well-Being Scale) and a subjective well-being concept of
well-being (as measured by the Satisfaction With Life Scale).
Predictions
We predicted based on Lyke’s (2009) findings that the Self-Reflection and
Insight Scale’s Insight subscale would be the most robust positive predictor of
well-being. As discussed previously, Grant et al. (2001) patterned this scale after
ISA, which captures many of the positive qualities of private self-consciousness.
They found that their Insight subscale was negatively correlated with anxiety
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Harrington & Loffredo 43
and stress variables. This subscale appears to capture the positive side of the
self-absorption paradox and could be similar to dimensions of positive insight
sought by psychotherapists, though the degree of overlap of the insight construct
as defined in a therapy context and the insight construct as determined by Grant
et al.’s scale is currently unknown.
Due to the neuroticism tendencies reflected in the Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire’s Rumination scale, this scale we expected to be the most powerful
negative predictor of well-being. This prediction was further bolstered by the
substantial body of research showing that rumination is associated with depressed
mood (Nolen-Hoeksema, McBride, & Larson, 1997; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow,
1993; Nolen-Hoeksema, Parker, & Larson, 1994; Raes, 2010).
The Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s Self-Reflection subscale we predicted
to contribute minimally to well-being variance based on Lyke’s (2009) findings
of a near-zero correlation. This prediction was based on the limited empirical
findings available that appeared to supersede a theoretical prediction of a negative
association (since it is patterned after SR, which captures the negative side of
the self-absorption paradox) between this scale and measures of well-being. No
predictions were made concerning the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s
Reflection subscale due to its unique qualities.
We predicted the SR and ISA subfactors of the Private Self-Consciousness
Scale–Revised to contribute less variance to the predictive model than the more
psychometrically sound dual subscales of the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale
and the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire. As previously found, we expected
SR to negatively correlate and ISA to positively correlate with well-being.
Method
Participants and Procedure
Participants were 121 (99 female and 22 male) university students who com-
pleted an online consent form, a demographic questionnaire, and an online version
of the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised, the Rumination–Reflection Question-
naire, the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and
Ryff’s (1989) Psychological Well-Being Scale (version with 14 items per dimen-
sion). The sample group’s race/ethnicity breakdown consisted of the following:
Non-Hispanic White =53.7% (n=65), Hispanic =19.0% (n=23), African
American =15.7% (n=19), Asian American =5.0% (n=6), and Other =6.6%
(n=8).
The mean age was 31.29 years with a standard deviation of 8.67 years.
The mean age of the participants was higher than for a typical college sample
because the university they attended is an upper division university that only
serves college juniors, seniors, and master’s level students, and the general profile
of these students is nontraditional. In the year when the study was conducted, 1.5%
of students attending were below age 21 years, 24.2% were between the ages of
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44 The Journal of Psychology
21 and 25 years, 24.2% were between the ages of 26 and 30 years, 30.8% were
between the ages of 31 and 40 years, and 19.3% were above age 40 years. The
mean age of 31.29 years for students in the sample was comparable to the mean
age of 32.3 years of all the students attending the university in the year when the
study was conducted.
Students who participated in the study were enrolled in online courses in the
Schools of Arts and Sciences, Education and Human Development, Business, and
Nursing and were invited to participate by their online instructor or through an
online announcement on the university Web site. Students who chose to participate
in the study were given a link to a Web site that allowed them to complete the
measures online after being presented with an informed consent form that had to be
clicked to indicate consent before the measures were presented. Only participants,
the researchers, and a research assistant had access to the survey site.
Measures
The Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised (Scheier & Carver, 1985) is a 22-
item 4-point Likert-type scale that is a revised version of the original 23-
item Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein et al., 1975). The Self-Consciousness
Scale–Revised is designed for use with a broad population, whereas the original
Self-Consciousness Scale is better suited for a traditional college population. For
some items, the wording was simplified in the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised
to address comprehension difficulties that some noncollege participants experi-
enced with the original Self-Consciousness Scale. The scale also addressed per-
ceived weaknesses in the original such as changing response formats of items that
were reported by some participants as confusing. One item from the original was
dropped because it no longer loaded on the expected factor after being modified
to its less abstract version.
Both the Self-Consciousness Scale and the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised
contain the three subscales of Public Self-Consciousness, Private Self-
Consciousness, and Social Anxiety. Public Self-Consciousness measures one’s
tendency to focus on how one may be perceived in a public setting and is illus-
trated by the item, “I care a lot about how I present myself to others.” Private
Self-Consciousness refers to one’s tendency to focus on one’s private thoughts
and feelings and is represented by the following item: “I’m constantly think-
ing about my reasons for doing things.” The Social Anxiety subscale measures
a tendency to experience feelings of apprehensiveness in social contexts and is
demonstrated by the item, “It takes me time to get over my shyness in new situa-
tions.” Scheier and Carver found acceptable reliabilities for the three subscales of
the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised, including 4-week test–retest correlations
ranging from .74 to .77 and Cronbach alphas ranging from .75 to .79. In addition,
factor analysis with Varimax rotation supported the construct validity of the three
subscales.
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Harrington & Loffredo 45
As discussed previously, however, two subfactors labeled SR and ISA consis-
tently emerge in factor analytic studies of the Private Self-Consciousness Scale.
An example of the two Private Self-Consciousness Scale subfactors for the Self-
Consciousness Scale can be found in Burnkrant and Page’s (1984) confirmatory
analysis studies. These authors reported that the SR subfactor comprised five items
and that the ISA subfactor comprised three items. Martin and Debus (1999) noted
that equivalent items for these subfactors found in the Self-Consciousness Scale
can be demonstrated by summing Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised’s scores for
items 1, 4, 6, 14, and 17 to determine SR and summing scores for items 12, 19, and
21 to determine ISA. This was the scoring system used to determine SR and ISA in
the present study. A sample SR item from the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised
is “I’m always trying to figure myself out,” and a sample ISA item is “I generally
pay attention to my inner feelings.”
Trapnell and Campbell’s (1999) 24-item 5-point Likert-type scale called the
Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire measures the extent to which participants
are disposed to engage in repetitive thinking about their past (rumination) and to
reflect on themselves out of epistemic curiosity, that is, out of a philosophical love
of self-exploration (reflection). A representative example of the Rumination sub-
scale is “Often I’m playing back over in my mind how I acted in a past situation,”
and an example of the Reflection subscale is “I love analyzing why I do things.”
The authors reported on conducting a principal-components oblique rotation fac-
tor analysis that the factor structure supported the construct of two unique factors.
In addition, they found a relatively high coefficient alpha for both subscales (Ru-
mination =.90, and Reflection =.91). The subscales showed good convergent
validity in that each correlated highly with its respective factor predicted from the
Big Five factor model of personality (Rumination with Neuroticism, and Reflec-
tion with Openness to Experience). They also showed good discriminant validity
in that they showed a minimal correlation with each other (r=.22).
The 20-item 6-point Likert-type scale called the Self-Reflection and Insight
Scale (Grant et al., 2002) consists of two subscales with one labeled Self-Reflection
and the other labeled Insight. The Self-Reflection subscale measures the respon-
dent’s need for and engagement in self-reflection and is characterized by the item
“I am very interested in examining what I think about,” whereas the Insight sub-
scale measures the characteristic of generally having internal self-awareness of
one’s feelings, thoughts, and motivations represented by the item “I usually know
why I feel the way I do.”
In constructing the instrument, Grant and his colleagues used a principal-
components analysis with varimax rotation to eliminate items that did not load on
the expected two factors. They used the same factor analytic procedure a second
time to confirm the expected two orthogonal factors. The coefficient alpha was .91
for the Self-Reflection subscale and was .87 for Insight. The 7-week test–retest
reliabilities were in the high .70s for both subscales. Convergent validity was
demonstrated by the Self-Reflection subscale positively correlating with the Self-
Consciousness Scale’s Private Self-Consciousness subscale and with measures of
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46 The Journal of Psychology
anxiety and stress. The Insight subscale showed the predicted negative correlation
with the Self-Consciousness Scale’s Private Self-Consciousness subscale as well
as with measures of anxiety, stress, and depression. Excellent discriminant validity
was demonstrated in that the subscales showed a near-zero correlation with each
other (r=−.03).
The Psychological Well-Being Scales were designed to measure well-being
by assessing its six hypothesized dimensions embodied in subscales referred to
as Self-Acceptance, Positive Relations With Others, Autonomy, Environmental
Mastery, Purpose in Life, and Personal Growth (Ryff, 1989). The original inventory
includes 20 items per subscale each using a 6-point Likert-type format, and a
shorter version used in this study contains 14 items per subscale. Correlations
reported by Ryff between the original and the shorter version range from .97 to .98.
The first subscale, Self-Acceptance, taps into one’s level of self-approval
and is represented by the item “I like most aspects of my personality.” Positive
Relations With Others measures how satisfied the respondents are with their
interpersonal relationships and is characterized by the item “My friends and I
sympathize with each other’s problems.” The Autonomy subscale measures self-
determination and self-directedness and is illustrated by the item “People rarely
talk me into things I do not want to do.” Environmental Mastery includes the
perception of control over one’s outer life and is characterized by the item “In
general, I feel I am in charge of the situation in which I live.” The subscale, Purpose
in Life, demonstrated by the item “I feel good when I think of what I’ve done in
the past and what I hope to do in the future,” captures the concept of living one’s
life with meaning and direction. Last, the subscale measuring the dimension of
Personal Growth, indicated in the item “For me, life has been a continuous process
of learning, changing, and growth,” reflects the idea of positive expansion of one’s
potential.
Ryff (1989) reported favorable reliability estimates for the Psychological
Well-Being’s scales ranging from .87 to .93 for coefficient alphas and from .81
to .88 for 6-week test–retest reliability. Ryff and Keyes (1995) also demonstrated
good construct validity for the Psychological Well-Being subscales using a confir-
matory factor analysis that supported the hypothesis that all six predicted dimen-
sions formed one global factor.
The 5-item Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985) uses a 7-point
Likert-type scale to measure a person’s subjective judgment of his or her life
satisfaction as a whole. A representative sample item is “In most ways my life
is close to ideal.” Diener et al. reported that a single factor emerged from their
principal-axis factor analysis of the Satisfaction With Life Scale, suggesting that
the instrument measures the proposed single dimension of life satisfaction. They
also found a good 2-month test-retest reliability of .82 and a good coefficient
alpha of .87. Many supportive construct validity studies have been done indicating
positive convergence findings with other methods for assessing life satisfaction
and negative correlations with measures of distress. See Pavot and Diener (1993)
for a review of Satisfaction With Life Scale validity studies.
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Harrington & Loffredo 47
Results
Cronbach alphas were determined for the Self-Consciousness Scale–
Revised’s SR and ISA subfactors as well as for the two subscales of the Self-
Reflection and Insight Scale and of the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire.
The alphas were as follows: SR =.71, ISA =.66, Self-Reflection and Insight
Scale–Self-Reflection =.92, Self-Reflection and Insight Scale–Insight =.83,
Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire–Rumination =.91, and Rumination–
Reflection Questionnaire–Reflection =.90, generally replicating previous find-
ings and reinforcing the argument that SR and ISA have weaker psychometric
properties.
Table 1 reports bivariate correlations for the six predictor variables of
Self-Reflection and Insight–Self-Reflection, Self-Reflection and Insight–Insight,
Rumination– Reflection Questionnaire–Rumination, Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire– Reflection, Self-Consciousness Scale Revised–SR, and Self-
Consciousness Scale Revised–ISA with the three subscales of the Self-
Consciousness Scale Revised of Private Self-Consciousness, Public Self-
Consciousness, and Social Anxiety. It is noteworthy that all the dispositional
self-attention predictor variables were significantly positively correlated with Pri-
vate Self-Consciousness except the Self-Consciousness Scale’s Insight, which had
zero correlation.
Table 2 reports the descriptive statistics and the bivariate correlations for
the six predictor variables and the seven criterion variables. Two predictor vari-
ables showed robust correlations with nearly all the Psychological Well-Being
TABLE 1. Bivariate Correlations Between Study Subscale/Subfactor Self-
Attention Variables and the Self-Consciousness Scale Revised Scales
Variable SRIS-SR SRIS-IN RRQ-RM RRQ-RF SR ISA
Private SC .50 .00 .24 .47 .89 .63
Public SC .17 −.17 .39 .04 .45 .05
Social anxiety .07 −.31 .45 .02 .25 −.11
Notes.Bold type indicates correlation significant at the .01 level (two-tailed). ISA =the
Internal Self-Awareness subfactor of the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised; Private SC =
Private Self-Consciousness of the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised;Public SC =Public Self-
Consciousness of the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised; RRQ-RF =Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire–Reflection; RRQ-RM =Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire–Rumination;
SR =the Self-Reflectiveness subfactor of the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised; Social Anx-
iety =Social Anxiety of the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised; SRIS-IN =Self-Reflection
and Insight Scale–Insight; and SRIS-SR =Self-Reflection and Insight Scale–Self-Reflection.
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48 The Journal of Psychology
TABLE 2. Descriptive Statistics and Simple Correlations Among Predictor and Criterion Variables
Variable 12345678910111213
1. SRIS-SR
2. SRIS-IN −.13
3. RRQ-RM .27 −.57
4. RRQ-RF .78 .04 .06
5. SR .44 −.13 .34 .35
6. ISA .26 .18 −.03 .38 .25
7. SWLS −.18 .34 −.29 .06 .08 .05
8. Autonomy −.02 .48 −.50 .08 −.13 .20∗.41
9. Env Mastery −.11 .46 −.47 .02 −.18 .07 .67 .56
10. Pers Growth .27 .29 −.11 .41 .02 .25 .40 .45 .56
11. Pos Rel Others .04 .44 −.33 .10 −.11 .20∗.53 .45 .68 .60
12. Purpose in Life −.03 .43 −.25 .06 −.13 .09 .57 .47 .75 .70 .71
13. Self-Acceptance −.06 .46 −.45 .06 −.20∗.13 .77 .58 .79 .63 .68 .77
M48.65 35.16 38.07 39.47 7.00 6.28 25.46 64.02 63.41 71.41 67.07 70.69 65.37
SD 10.92 6.69 9.75 9.26 3.40 1.88 6.93 10.68 11.73 8.28 10.31 10.45 12.99
Notes.Bold type indicates correlation significant at the .01 level (two-tailed). Env Mastery =Environmental Mastery; ISA =the Internal Self-
Awareness subfactor of the Self-Consciousness Scale Revised; Pos Rel Others =Positive Relations with Others; Pers Growth =Personal Growth; RRQ-
RF =Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire–Reflection; RRQ-RM =Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire-Rumination; SR =the Self-Reflectiveness
subfactor of the Self-Consciousness Scale Revised; SRIS-IN =Self-Reflection and Insight Scale–Insight; and SRIS-SR =Self-Reflection and Insight
Scale–Self-Reflection.
∗Correlation significant at the .05 level (two-tailed).
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Harrington & Loffredo 49
dimensions. They were the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s Insight subscale and
the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Rumination subscale. Self-Reflection
and Insight Scale’s Insight was significantly (p<.01) positively correlated with
all of the Psychological Well-Being dimensions and the Satisfaction With Life
Scale. Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Rumination was negatively corre-
lated with all the Psychological Well-Being dimensions and the Satisfaction With
Life Scale. However, its correlation with the Psychological Well-Being dimension
of Personal Growth failed to reach statistical significance.
The Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s Self-Reflection subscale generally
showed near-zero insignificant negative correlations with the Psychological Well-
Being dimensions. One exception that bucked the trend was a positive significant
correlation with Personal Growth (r=.27, p<.01). The Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire’s Reflection subscale showed a similar pattern of near-zero insignif-
icant correlations with the Psychological Well-Being dimensions, though in the
positive direction. Once again, Personal Growth was the exception with a strong
positive correlation (r=.41, p<.01).
The SR subfactor showed small negative correlations with each of the Psycho-
logical Well-Being dimensions except Personal Growth with only Self-Acceptance
reaching statistical significance (r=−.20, p<.05). All of the Psychological Well-
Being dimensions positively correlated with ISA, with Autonomy (r=.20, p<
.05), Personal Growth (r=.25, p<.01), and Positive Relations With Others (r=
.20, p<.05) reaching statistical significance.
A step-wise multiple regression analysis was conducted testing the Self-
Consciousness Scale-Revised’s SR and ISA, the Rumination–Reflection Ques-
tionnaire’s Rumination and Reflection, and the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s
Self-Reflection and Insight as predictors of satisfaction with life (as measured by
the Satisfaction With Life Scale). The predictor model of best fit for satisfaction
with life was Insight (F(1, 119) =15.412, p<.001; 12% of variance and 11%
adjusted).
A multivariate regression analysis using the six self-awareness variables
(predictor variables) and the six psychological well-being variables (criterion
variables) was run to determine the significant predictor-criterion relationships.
Multivariate regression analyses are used when there are multiple predictor vari-
ables and multiple criterion variables (see Stevens, 2009, pp. 128–131, for a dis-
cussion). Use of this analysis minimizes chance findings in ways similar to other
multivariate procedures (e.g., multivariate analyses of variance). The multivariate
regression analysis first determines the significance of the overall multivariate F.
If that score is significant, Fscores for each individual predictor variable can
be examined for significance with the cluster of criterion variables. Significant
Fscores then protect against inflated alphas when the researcher next examines
individual tscores for each predictor variable with each criterion variable for a
finer grained interpretation of results.
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50 The Journal of Psychology
The Wilks’ Lambda overall multivariate Ftest was highly significant (F(6,
110) =9.99, p<.001) indicating that the self-awareness predictor vari-
ables significantly predicted the psychological well-being criterion variables.
Examination of the individual Fscores revealed that only three of the six predictor
variables were significant in predicting psychological well-being (as measured by
the six criterion variables). They were the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s
Rumination (F(6, 110) =5.91, p<.001); the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s
Insight (F(6, 110) =3.29, p<.01); and the Rumination–Reflection Question-
naire’s Reflection (F(6, 110) =3.09, p<.01).
Looking at the individual tscores revealed that only the Self-Reflection and
Insight Scale’s Insight was significant (p<.01) for all six psychological well-
being variables. All the corresponding beta weights were positive, indicating that
it is a positive predictor of psychological well-being. The Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire’s Rumination was significant (with corresponding negative beta
weights) for the psychological well-being dimensions of Autonomy (p<.001),
Environmental Mastery (p<.01), and Self-Acceptance (p<.05). Finally, the
Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Reflection was significant (with a cor-
responding positive beta weight) for the psychological well-being dimension of
Personal Growth (p<.05).
Discussion
The present study’s objective was to examine six dispositional private self-
focused attention variables related to well-being and to determine which ones
are the most powerful positive and negative predictors of both subjective and
psychological well-being. Although previous research demonstrated that the Self-
Consciousness Scale–Revised’s SR and ISA factors can predict psychological
well-being (Harrington & Loffredo, 2007), results of the regression analyses
in the present study demonstrate that the subscales of the more psychometri-
cally sound instruments of the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire and Self-
Reflection and Insight Scale are better at predicting psychological well-being than
the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised’s subfactors, as expected. In particular,
the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s Insight subscale was the only one to make
statistically significant contributions to the predictive models for both (a) all six di-
mensions of Ryff’s (1989) eudemonic construct for psychological well-being and
(b) the subjective well-being construct of satisfaction with life. The second most
comprehensive predictor variable was the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s
Rumination scale, which was found to predict three dimensions of psychological
well-being, followed by the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Reflection
subscale, which only made a significant contribution to the prediction of one psy-
chological well-being dimension, Personal Growth. Thus, as predicted, Insight
was the most robust positive predictor, and Rumination was the most powerful
negative predictor of well-being.
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Harrington & Loffredo 51
Private Self-Consciousness and Its Relation to the Other Predictor Variables
Bivariate correlations reported in Table 1 for Self-Reflection and Insight–
Self-Reflection, Self-Reflection and Insight–Insight, Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire–Rumination, Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire–Reflection,
Self-Consciousness Scale Revised–SR, and Self-Consciousness Scale
Revised–ISA, with the three subscales of the Self-Consciousness Scale–Revised
are discussed next. Unsurprisingly, the Self-Reflection and Insight–Self-
Reflection, and the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Rumination and
Reflection subscales were all significantly positively correlated with Private
Self-Consciousness. It should be noted that Trapnell and Campbell (1999) also
found significant positive correlations between Private Self-Consciousness and
each of their subscales of the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire.
A surprising finding, however, was that the Self-Reflection and Insight’s
Insight subscale had a zero correlation with Private Self-Consciousness, suggesting
it is measuring an entirely different self-attention construct than private self-
consciousness. Its strongest correlation, a negative one, was with Social Anxiety
(r=−.31), suggesting that it may positively relate to social confidence. The
Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire–Rumination subscale was, out of the four
subscales, the one most strongly related to Social Anxiety (r=.45). Thus, it
appears that of the scales examined in the present study, the Self-Reflection and
Insight’s Self-Reflection and Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Reflection
subscales best measure the construct of private self-consciousness and that the
Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Rumination subscale only does so weakly.
The Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s Insight subscale does not appear to be
measuring private self-consciousness at all but rather appears to measure another
dimension of dispositional self-focus.
The Importance of Insight to Positive Well-Being
The finding that the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s Insight subscale, orig-
inally patterned after ISA, was found to be the most robust dispositional self-focus
predictor variable of subjective and psychological well-being confirms that the dis-
position to have a conscious awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations
is important to overall well-being. The correlation found in the present study of
r=.34 between Insight and the Satisfaction With Life Scale essentially repli-
cates Lyke’s (2009) finding of a correlation of r=.38, suggesting that this is a
consistent finding. In addition, however, the present study extends the findings by
determining that Insight is also strongly correlated with the eudaemonist concept
of psychological well-being on all six dimensions. Therefore, Insight was the only
variable studied that powerfully predicted both the subjective and eudaemonist
constructs of well-being.
Schools of psychotherapy beginning with Freud have proposed that rais-
ing one’s consciousness to facilitate insight is the key to good psychological
health. In fact, today therapists of virtually all schools of psychotherapy use some
form of consciousness raising within their armamentarium of change agents (see
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52 The Journal of Psychology
Prochaska & Norcross, 2010). However, this longstanding practice seems para-
doxical in light of recent research findings such as (a) a meta-analytic study done
by Mor and Winquist (2002) that found that self-focused attention has a moder-
ate effect size for negative affect and (b) that of Ingram (1990), which reported
that increased self-focused attention is an attribute associated with a number of
different psychological disorders. This seeming paradox, first discussed by Trap-
nell and Campbell (1999) as the self-absorption paradox, can be resolved by
unraveling the types of self-focused attention and studying the potential effects
of each. For example, mindfulness meditation and practice that involves a type of
self-focused attention derived from Buddhist teachings is associated with a num-
ber of salutary benefits including increased well-being (see Brown & Ryan, 2003;
Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007). Mindfulness practice is designed to focus atten-
tion in a way that fosters acceptance and a nonjudging perspective regarding one’s
inner experiences. Practitioners take “a nonevaluative stance toward thoughts and
feelings” (Baer, 2007, p. 239).
Brown and Ryan (2003) contend that ISA is a construct that overlaps with
mindfulness, and those researchers reported positive correlations between their
Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, designed to measure dispositional tendencies
toward engaging in mindfulness, and measures of emotional subjective well-
being, eudaemonic well-being, and physical well-being. Although the present
study found only a modest insignificant correlation between Insight (patterned after
ISA) and ISA (r=.18), suggesting minimal overlap of these constructs, the most
robust positive correlation for ISA was between the Reflection subscale from the
Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire and ISA (r=.38). This finding essentially
replicates Trapnell and Campbell’s (1999) correlation of r=.39 between these
same variables.
Why, then, is the Insight subscale that overlaps substantially less with ISA so
much more of a robust and comprehensive positive predictor of well-being than the
Reflection subscale that overlaps significantly more with ISA? The answer seems
to be found in the psychological well-being concept of self-acceptance, which also
happens to be one of the primary components of mindfulness. Whereas the Insight
subscale shows a highly significant correlation with the psychological well-being
dimension of Self-Acceptance (r=.46), the Reflection subscale does not (r=.06).
The Reflection subscale, designed by Trapnell and Campbell (1999) to tap into
the private self-focus components of Openness to Experience, only predicted one
psychological well-being variable, Personal Growth (note that Schmutte & Ryff,
1997, also found that Openness to Experience was linked to Personal Growth).
Thus, it appears that within the parameters of the variables examined in the present
study, the combination of (a) the disposition to self-focus attention and (b) self-
acceptance is the optimal formula for high well-being. It is essentially an “I like my
personality” dispositional self-focused attention pattern. However, a disposition
to self-focus attention where self-acceptance is neutral (a philosophical love of
self-exploration) is essentially an “I’m open to change” pattern that is naturally
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Harrington & Loffredo 53
associated with personal growth. As we will subsequently suggest, a disposition
to self-focus attention where self-acceptance is negative is essentially an “I do not
like my personality” pattern and predicts well-being negatively.
The Importance of Rumination to Negative Well-Being
Rumination was negatively related to psychological well-being as predicted.
As Baer (2007, p. 240) explains, “rumination is a style of recurrent negative
thinking in which the causes, consequences, and implications of negative events
and feelings are repetitively analyzed. It includes persistently dwelling on personal
problems and inadequacies and reviewing what has gone wrong and why.” This
process appears to perpetuate depressed mood (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991) and likely
plays a role in sustaining disorders such as unipolar depression and a number of
anxiety disorders (Baer, 2007).
This is not surprising since rumination relates to neuroticism. As Trapnell
and Campbell (1999, p. 291) noted, they constructed the Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire–Rumination subscale to focus on “the private self-attentive aspects
of Neuroticism (rumination).” In fact, in their study, the Rumination subscale
positively correlated with a host of different measures of neuroticism, anxiety,
depression, and negative affect. Neuroticism has been found to relate to many
mental and physical disorders as well as to negatively predict overall quality and
longevity of life (Lahey, 2009; Steel, Schmidt, & Schultz, 2008). Therefore, it is
not surprising that Rumination was a strong negative predictor for psychological
well-being.
In the present study, Rumination was found to have a highly significant
negative correlation with the psychological well-being dimension scale of Self-
Acceptance. This result is in accord with Lyubomirsky, Tucker, Caldwell, and
Berg’s (1999) finding that self-focused rumination was associated with negative
self-evaluations. Therefore, as discussed previously, this would represent an “I
do not like my personality” pattern of high levels of rumination combined with
low levels of self-acceptance. Not liking one’s personality makes sense for these
individuals given that they also perceive they have little personal autonomy and
environmental mastery and likely use repetitive negative self-critical thinking pat-
terns in a dysfunctional attempt to resolve their perceived personal inadequacies.
Limitations of the Study
One of the limitations of the present study is the correlational nature of
the design. Such designs do not lead to causal inferences. For example, from
the present study, one cannot discern if a disposition to experience high levels
of insight causes higher well-being, high levels of well-being cause a greater
disposition toward self-focused insight, or perhaps an unknown third variable
has a positive simultaneous impact on both dispositional self-focused insight and
well-being. At this time, we can only speculate about causal variables and their
directions of influence. However, studies discussed earlier regarding mindfulness
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54 The Journal of Psychology
practice and the influence of rumination on psychological disorders suggest a
causal role for different self-attention forms’ positively or negatively influencing
well-being.
Another limitation of the present study is the sample’s composition of college
students who are primarily female. In terms of a college sample’s limiting external
validity, it is important to note that Lyke (2009) found similar results for the
Satisfaction With Life Scale in a community sample of 208 respondents. Therefore,
the results do not appear to be limited to a college population. Further, although
her sample was primarily female (70%), she did not find any gender differences
in the Satisfaction With Life Scale or her other measure of subjective well-being
for Insight. The sample size of males in the present study was too small to use as
a comparison to females; however, given Lyke’s findings, gender does not appear
to play a role in this phenomenon.
Conclusion
The present study found that among the six dispositional self-focused attention
variables examined, only the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale’s Insight subscale
successfully predicted both subjective well-being (as measured by Satisfaction
With Life Scale) and eudaemonic well-being (as measured by Psychological Well-
Being Scale). The Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Rumination subscale
was the next most comprehensive predictor of psychological well-being, playing a
negative predictive role for three of the six psychological well-being dimensions.
Finally, the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire’s Reflection subscale played a
predictive role, a positive one, only in the psychological well-being dimension of
Personal Growth. The Private Self-Consciousness Scale subfactors of SR and ISA
were not predictors of well-being as powerful as the more psychometrically sound
subscales of the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale and Rumination–Reflection
Questionnaire previously mentioned. These findings reinforce and extend those
of Lyke (2009) that insight is a very important dispositional self-focused attention
variable related to positive well-being. They also emphasize the negative relation-
ship that some forms of dispositional self-focus, such as rumination, can have in
the experience of well-being. Further, as in mindfulness practices, an important
key is self-acceptance. Different levels of self-acceptance combined with differ-
ent types of dispositional tendencies to engage in self-focused attention seem to
account for much of the differences in subjective and psychological well-being
found in the present study.
AUTHOR NOTES
Rick Harrington is a professor of psychology and chair of the Social and Behavioral
Sciences Division at the University of Houston–Victoria. His current research interests
include examining personality factors that relate to well-being and to student educational
issues such as preference for online instruction. He is currently authoring a textbook that
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Harrington & Loffredo 55
covers the topics of stress, health, and well-being. Donald A. Loffredo is a professor
of psychology at the University of Houston–Victoria. His current research interests in-
clude personality, communication, student educational issues, and HIV/Aids. He has been
teaching for 17 years.
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Original manuscript received June 16, 2010
Final version accepted September 25, 2010
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