Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to assess the two main forms of adolescent egocentrism, the imaginary audience and the personal fable phenomenon, in Greek adolescents. Piaget defined adolescent egocentrism as a differentiation failure, a negative by-product of the newly acquired formal operational abilities. Elkind stated that adolescents often believe that they are the focus of attention and act as if they are performing in front of an audience (imaginary audience). They also feel special/unique, omnipotent and invulnerable (personal fable). The Greek adaptations of Lapsley's New Imaginary Audience Scale and New Personal Fable Scale were administered to 783 14-18-year-old adolescents from Athens and semi-rural areas of Greece. The New Imaginary Audience Scale was a highly reliable measure, whereas the New Personal Fable Scale had a lower, though adequate, reliability. Factor analyses showed that the imaginary audience consisted of several factors, the most important of which were, among the 14-16-year-old adolescents, leadership abilities, physical strength, material possessions and, among the 16-18 year-old adolescents, physical appearance, relationships with the opposite sex, and leadership abilities. The distinction among the three dimensions of the personal fable was confirmed in general. Both the imaginary audience and the personal fable decreased significantly with age. Boys had significantly higher personal fable scores than girls. Adolescents from semi-rural areas had significantly higher imaginary audience and personal fable scores than those living in Athens. The necessity to assess adolescent egocentrism, a developmental phenomenon that explains various adolescent behaviours, within a multidimensional framework is discussed.

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