ABSTRACT
Shared assumptions The recent resurgence of interest in the concept of the self has been marked by consensus in regard to at least three basic assumptions. The first is that the self is a cognitive construct, as may become evident in its conceptual nature, its contents or its functions. Accordingly, the self is often described as ‘cognitive generalizations about the self guiding the processing of self-related information (Markus, 1977, p. 64), a set of beliefs (Cantor et al., 1982) or attitudes about the self (Rosenberg, 1965), general information about oneself (Fiske and Taylor, 1984) or a theory for assimilating knowledge (Epstein, 1983).
