The effect of deception and debriefing upon self concept

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to answer two basic questions: 1. What is the influence of deception procedure conducted in social psychological experiment upon the subjects' self-concepts as measured by a self-concept scale? 2. Does the debriefing process eliminate the influence of the deception upon subjects' self-concepts during a social psychological experiment? In case of no evidence of negative influence of deception procedure on self-concept, then will be no need to go further to the second question.