Self-portraits and selected indices of psychopathology of a group of heroin-addicted patients.

Abstract

This paper describes a self-portrait scoring system and compares the self-portraits of two groups of adults. The scoring system effectively differentiated between the two groups of subjects which were known to differ on several observable behavioral characteristics. It correlated well with the ratings obtained from counselors but not with a self-report inventory of anxiety. A self-portrait is a single manifestation of an individual's self-concept. It presents only a fraction of the hypothetical universe of one's behavioral manifestations. In addition, every single observation is affected by the place, time, and the presence of the observer. However, if these isolated observations can be studied systematically, they can contribute to a reliable and a valid index of the self-concept. This paper presents one means of achieving that end.