1 Introduction
1.1 The Quiet Ego as a Less Defensive Stance Toward the Self and Others
1.2 Why Ego? Which Ego?
1.3 Stances of Balance and Growth
1.4 The Personological Perspective of the Quiet Ego
1.5 The Quiet Ego Scale: Measuring the Less Defended Self
1.5.1 Balancing the Self and Others
1.5.2 Growth in the Self and Others
1.6 Rationale for the Current Studies
2 Study One
2.1 Method
2.1.1 Participants
2.2 Measures
2.2.1 Mindfulness
2.2.2 Allo-Inclusive Identity
2.2.3 Wisdom
2.2.4 Psychological Well-Being
2.2.5 Humility
2.2.6 Self-compassion
2.2.7 Generativity
2.2.8 Savoring
2.2.9 Self-esteem
2.2.10 Self-determination
2.2.11 Personal Growth Initiative
2.2.12 Meaning in Life
2.2.13 Background Measures
2.2.14 Analytic Procedure
2.2.15 Selecting Items for Quiet Ego Scale
2.3 Results
2.3.1 Exploratory Factor Analyses for QE Sub-Factors
Subscale | Item |
---|---|
Detached awarenessa
| I find myself doing things without paying much attention |
I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I’m doing | |
I rush through activities without being really attentive to them | |
Inclusive identityb
| The connection between you and all living things |
The connection between you and a stranger on a bus | |
The connection between you and a person of another race | |
Perspective takingc
| Before criticizing somebody, I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place |
When I’m upset at someone, I usually try to put myself in his or her shoes for a while | |
I try to look at everybody’s side of a disagreement before I make a decision | |
I sometimes find it difficult to see things from another person’s point of view (reverse) | |
Growthd
| For me, life has been a continuous process of learning, changing, and growth |
I have the sense that I have developed a lot as a person over time | |
I think it is important to have new experiences that challenge how you think about yourself and the world | |
When I think about it, I haven’t really improved much as a person over the years | |
For me, life has been a continuous process of learning, changing, and growth |
2.3.2 Detached Awareness
2.3.3 Inclusive Identity
2.3.4 Perspective Taking
2.3.5 Growth
2.3.6 EFA for QE Scale
Item | Detached awareness | Inclusive identity | Pespective taking | Growth |
---|---|---|---|---|
DA 5 | .79 | .16 | .14 | .27 |
DA 4 | .72 | .11 | .11 | .18 |
DA 3 | .67 | .04 | .10 | .23 |
II 6 | .04 | .71 | .11 | .23 |
II 4 | .14 | .69 | .22 | .13 |
II 7 | .11 | .54 | .09 | .17 |
PS 3 | .12 | .14 | .75 | .22 |
PS 2 | .06 | .19 | .63 | .22 |
PS 1 | .08 | .08 | .57 | .21 |
PS 4 | .28 | .17 | .45 | .38 |
G 15 | .25 | .28 | .27 | .76 |
G 14 | .18 | .17 | .22 | .73 |
G 17 | .22 | .20 | .21 | .65 |
G 16 | .23 | .11 | .27 | .61 |
2.3.7 Confirmatory Factor Analysis
2.3.8 Correlates of QES
Study 1 | Study 2 | Study 3 | Study 4 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | |||
Study N
| 303 | 330 | 564 | 209 | 459 | 155 |
QES (coefficient alpha) | .78 | .78 | .77 | .79 | .76 | .73 |
Humilitya
| .56*** | .57*** | ||||
Self-compassionb
| .43*** | .53*** | .32*** | .36*** | ||
Generativityc
| .48*** | .49*** | ||||
Savoringd
| .49*** | .53*** | ||||
Self-esteeme
| .45*** | .44*** | .43*** | |||
Self-determinationf
| .44*** | .40*** | ||||
Growth initiativeg
| .47*** | .42*** | ||||
Presence of meaningh
| .52*** | .32*** | ||||
Search for meaning | −.06 | .07 | ||||
Holistic thinking: causalityi
| .25** | |||||
Holistic thinking: attitudes | .20** | |||||
Toward contradictions
| ||||||
Negative thinkingj
| −.12* | |||||
Extraversionk
| .38*** | |||||
Conscientiousness | .14** | |||||
Openness to experience | .27** | |||||
Honesty-humility | .22** | |||||
Emotionality | −.015 | |||||
Agreeableness | .33*** | |||||
Autonomyl
| .25** | |||||
Competence | .28*** | |||||
Relatedness | .37*** | |||||
Physical aggressionm
| −.21** | |||||
Verbal aggression | −.14** | |||||
Anger | −.27*** | |||||
Hostility | −.26*** | |||||
Cognitive reappraisaln
| .23*** | |||||
Expressive suppression | −.11* | |||||
Psychological entitlemento
| −.12* | |||||
Youth assetsp
| .39*** | |||||
Risk taking: psychologicalq
| −.24*** | |||||
Risk taking: physical | .06 | |||||
Self-Transcendence Scale (Reed)r
| .44*** | |||||
Self-Transcendence Scale (Levenson)s
| .47*** | |||||
Pro-environmental attitudest
| .35*** | |||||
Affect balanceu
| 40*** | |||||
Life satisfactionv
| .28*** | .24** | ||||
Resilience: commitmentw
| .40*** | |||||
Resilience: control | .35*** | |||||
Resilience: challenge | .35*** | |||||
Coping self-efficacyx
| .35*** | |||||
Authenticityy
| .52*** | |||||
Five facet mindfulness | .26** | |||||
Observingz
| .27** | |||||
Describing | .33*** | |||||
Act with awareness | .12 | |||||
Non-judging of inner experience | .20** | |||||
Non-reacting to inner experience |
2.4 Discussion
3 Study 2
3.1 Method
3.1.1 Participants
3.2 Measures
3.2.1 Quiet Ego Characteristics (Samples 1 and 2)
3.2.2 Self-esteem (Sample 2)
3.2.3 Holistic and Cooperative Thinking (Sample 1)
3.2.4 Negative Thinking (Sample 1)
3.2.5 Personality Traits (Sample 1)
3.2.6 Self-determination (Sample 1)
3.2.7 Aggressive Thoughts and Behavior (Sample 1)
3.2.8 Emotional Regulation (Sample 1)
3.2.9 Psychological Entitlement (Sample 1)
3.2.10 Youth Assets (Sample 2)
3.2.11 Attitudes Toward Risk (Sample 2)
3.3 Results
3.4 Discussion
4 Study 3
4.1 Method
4.1.1 Participants
4.2 Measures
4.2.1 Quiet Ego Characteristics
4.2.2 Self-Transcendence
4.2.3 Affect Balance
4.2.4 Ecological Identity
4.2.5 Life Satisfaction
4.3 Results
Variable |
B
|
SE B
|
β
|
R
2
|
F change in R
2
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reed Self-Transcendence
| |||||
Step 1. Self-Compassion | 2.97 | .47 | .27*** | .15 | 80.85*** |
Step 2. QES | 5.18 | .62 | .36*** | .11 | 70.68*** |
F(2, 464) | 81.85*** | ||||
Levenson Self-Transcendence
| |||||
Step 1. Self-Compassion | .21 | .03 | .29*** | .17 | 95.93*** |
Step 2. QES | .36 | .04 | .38*** | .13 | 86.69*** |
F(2, 464) | 100.15*** |
Variable | Life satisfaction | Affects balance | Pro-environmental attitudes | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
B
|
SE B
|
β
|
B
|
SE B
|
β
|
B
|
SE B
|
β
| |
QES | −.113 | .13 | −.04 | .26 | .08 | .14** | 7.07 | .89 | .41*** |
SC | .602 | .10 | .28*** | .52 | .06 | .36*** | −1.58 | .65 | −.12** |
RST | .060 | .01 | .31*** | .04 | .01 | .28*** | −.01 | .06 | −.01 |
LST | .478 | .14 | .16** | .11 | .09 | .05 | −.95 | .98 | −.05 |
F(4, 459) | 54.26***, Adj R2 = .32 | 77.85***, Adj R2 = .40 | 18.32***, Adj R2 = .13 |
4.4 Discussion
5 Study 4
5.1 Method
5.1.1 Participants
5.2 Measures
5.2.1 Quiet Ego Characteristics
5.2.2 Resilience
5.2.3 Coping Efficacy
5.2.4 Life Satisfaction
5.2.5 Authenticity
5.2.6 Self-Compassion
5.2.7 Mindfulness
5.3 Results
5.3.1 Correlations
Variable |
B
|
SE B
|
β
|
R
2
|
F change in R
2
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Life satisfaction
| |||||
Step 1. Self-Compassion | 3.55 | .84 | .34*** | .15 | 26.76*** |
Step 2. QES | 1.66 | .99 | .13*** | .02 | 2.83 |
F(2, 149) | 14.96*** | ||||
Step 1. Authenticity | .111 | .033 | .31*** | .13 | 20.16*** |
Step 2. QES | 1.24 | 1.14 | .10 | .01 | 1.2 |
F(2, 149) | 10.69*** | ||||
Step 1. F-F Mindfulness | 2.73 | 1.13 | .20** | .07 | 11.51** |
Step 2. QES | 2.00 | 1.03 | .16* | .02 | 3.77* |
F(2, 149) | 7.75** | ||||
Coping efficacy
| |||||
Step 1. Self-Compassion | 31.13 | 4.45 | .50*** | .31 | 66.66*** |
Step 2. QES | 10.77 | 5.21 | .15*** | .02 | 4.27* |
F(2, 149) | 36.21*** | ||||
Step 1. Authenticity | .81 | .19 | .38*** | .22 | 37.54*** |
Step 2. QES | 11.64 | 6.39 | .16* | .02 | 3.32* |
F(2, 149) | 20.76*** | ||||
Step 1. F-F Mindfulness | 32.94 | 6.26 | .41*** | .23 | 44.20*** |
Step 2. QES | 13.35 | 5.53 | .19*** | .03 | 5.82** |
F(2, 149) |
25.73***
| ||||
Psychological resilience
| |||||
Step 1. Self-Compassion | 2.75 | .69 | .29*** | .19 | 34.47*** |
Step 2. QES | 4.38 | .80 | .40*** | .14 | 29.65*** |
F(2, 149) | 35.35*** | ||||
Step 1. Authenticity | .07 | .03 | .22** | .17 | 28.19*** |
Step 2. QES | 3.98 | .92 | .37*** | .10 | 18.59*** |
F(2, 149) | 25.20*** | ||||
Step 1. F-F Mindfulness | 1.47 | .93 | .12 | .08 | 13.79*** |
Step 2. QES | 4.88 | .84 | .45*** | .17 | 33.84*** |
F(2, 149) | 25.32*** |