Study of the Lewis Q-sort

Today there is an increased interest in research with regard to self concept and its implications for therapy. One of the major problems is the measurement of self concept. The present study sought to further analyze the Lewis self concept Q-sort by determining the strength of each item in relation to the sub-scales of: self evaluation, interpersonal relations, physical feelings, and psychological feelings. Forty-six graduate and undergraduate students from the College of Nursing at the University of Utah participated in this study. The Lewis Q-sort was administered to the 46 subjects with the instructions to sort the Q-sort once for their present self concept and once for their ideal self concept. Pearson product-moment correlations and a factor analysis were obtained on the data. In view of the findings, it was suggested that all of the items are not uniquely measuring present and ideal self concept on the specific sub-scale dimensions. The results did indicate many of the items had strength or relatedness to the total test content.