To Be or Not to Be Me: Self-Concept Clarity and Decision Difficulty Among Young Adults in the United States

Abstract People who have clear, internally consistent, and stable beliefs about themselves may find it easier to identify what they want when making different choices. The present study tested whether self-concept clarity is associated with less subjective decision difficulty among young adults in the U.S. The analysis was pre-registered before any of the participant-level data was accessed. The data were obtained from Twin-2K 500, which is a public survey of U.S. adults conducted in four waves. The analytic sample included 388 participants in the documented 18– 29 age category. From them, none were missing the focal items. Self-concept clarity was measured with an 11-item score, and one original scale item was omitted because its content overlapped with the outcome. Decision difficulty was measured using two shopping-related items from the short maximization scale. As hypothesized, self-concept clarity was negatively and moderately associated with decision difficulty, r(386) = −.383, 95% CI [−.464, −.294], p < .001. After adjustment for neuroticism and conscientiousness, the association remained negative, b = −0.341, HC3 SE = 0.076, 95% CI [−0.491, −0.191], p < .001, and across pre-registered sensitivity analyses. The findings gave pre-registered evidence that young adults who have clearer self-beliefs report less difficulty in two everyday consumer choice contexts. However, the cross-sectional design, non-probability online sample, and the two-item outcome that has limited breadth and reliability prevent causal conclusions and constrain generalisation.