Abstract:
People often reveal their identities and aspirations to others for important underlying reasons. Outwardly showing others the identity one is striving for has been labeled "symbolic self-completion" in past research efforts. The present study applied this notion to college students. That is, we attempted to determine if students who are committed to being a student and are incomplete with their identities as "students" tend to symbolize to others. Two hundred and seventy-eight undergraduate college students completed a questionnaire measuring their commitment to the goal of being a good student and their symbolizing behavior. High school grade point average was used as an index of role identity completion. Correlations were performed on responses to each of the symbolizing behavior questions and high school grade point average for both committed and uncommitted students. Negative relationships were expected between the symbolizing questions and high school grade point average, but only for those students who were committed to their roles. Several relationships were statistically significant and are discussed. The overall results of the study did not support the theory.
