Self concepts in medical outpatient and normal Nigerian undergraduates

This study compares scores on the Tennessee Self concept Scale of a sample of normal male Nigerian undergraduates (N = 47) and a matched group who seek medical attention as outpatients (N = 51) at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus Medical Centre. The results showed that the medical outpatients obtained lower scores than the normal sample in most domains of the self concept especially in the domains of overall self esteem as reflected by lower Total Positive Scores, Identity and Physical shelf. The medical outpatients were also medically examined and sorted into those that were clinically normal (NAD) and those with evidence of physical pathology (sick). Both groups obtained lower scores than normal subjects but the scores were significant only for identity and Physical Self. A look at the scores obtained by the two subgroups (NAD and sick) showed no significant differences in their self concept scores except in Physical self where the sick subgroup scored significantly lower than the NAD group. The results tend to suggest that seeking medical attention among Nigerian subjects may be associated with lower self concepts, regardless of whether physical illness is present or not.