Effects of Assumed Characteristics of an Imaginary Audience on Writing

The Situation Scale for Adolescents (SISA), a Dutch extended version of the Imaginary Audience Scale, was administered to several hundreds of youngsters at the 7th, 9th and 12th grade levels. The scale, assessing self-consciousness in two types of social situations, proved to be reliable, but yielded confused results regarding age and sex differences. In addition, concern about the imaginary audience was not associated with formal operational thought. These results are in line with previous studies on these topics. When taken together, they clearly indicate that Elkind's theory on the imaginary audience is in need of revision. Findings on the cognitive origin of the imaginary audience are discussed in the light of recent research on formal operations, and suggestions are made for future research.

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Separation-Individuation and the "New Look" at the Imaginary Audience and Personal Fable

Journal of Adolescent Research ◽

10.1177/074355488944006 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 483-505 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Daniel K. Lapsley ◽

David P. FitzGerald ◽

Kenneth G. Rice ◽

Sara Jackson

Keyword(s):

Imaginary Audience ◽

Personal Fable ◽

New Look

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Egocentrism and the Cognitive Psychotherapy of Personality Disorders

Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy ◽

10.1891/0889-8391.6.1.43 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 43-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Giovanni Liotti

Keyword(s):

Personality Disorders ◽

Interpersonal Relationships ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Late Adolescence ◽

Imaginary Audience ◽

Self Disclosure ◽

Healthy Relationships ◽

Personal Fable ◽

Adult Personality ◽

Cognitive Psychotherapy

The concept of cognitive egocentrism provides useful guidelines for the cognitive psychotherapy of personality disorders. The patient’s imaginary audience-and “personal fable” (aspects of egocentrism that are normally overcome in late adolescence, according to developmental psychologists, and that unhealthily permeate the thinking of adult personality disorders) may be effectively selected as targets for the therapist’s assessment and intervention. This paper illustrates the hypothesis that therapy should involve criticism of the imaginary audience first, and that this should be followed by exercises of interpersonal perspective-taking. These first steps allow for deliberate, responsible self-disclosure in interpersonal relationships that the patient may wish to develop in the direction of growing degrees of intimacy. The experience of healthy relationships seems necessary in order to relinquish the personal fable.

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