Internal Representations of Others in Self-Regulation: A New Look at a Classic Issue

The impact of internal representations of others on self-regulation has received little empirical attention. The current study measured people's own guides for their behavior and the guides they believed their parents held for them and distinguished between: (a) guides perceived as shared between oneself and parents (i.e., identified guides); (b) perceived parental guides not adopted as one's own (i.e., introjected guides); and (c) self-guides independent from one's parents. As hypothesized, only identified and independent guides significantly predicted emotional and interpersonal functioning. Introjected guides, the “felt presence” of parents within the self-system, did not predict functioning. Significant sex differences were found: Independent self-guides predicted emotional and interpersonal problems in men but not women; identified self-guides predicted functioning in women but not men. Results are discussed in relation to psychodynamic and relational theories of self-development and research on gender differences in socialization. The benefits and liabilities of a self-regulatory focus that emphasizes self-other relatedness are discussed.