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In preparation

Daily Fluctuations in Self-Concept Clarity as a Predictor of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Ilagan, G. S., Gilbert, K. J., & Conway, C. C.

2026Collaborative study

Identity as a daily process

A person can have a generally stable identity and still experience meaningful day-to-day shifts in self-understanding.

This project separates stable differences between people from changes occurring within the same person. Its central methodological problem is temporal ordering: whether daily variation in self-concept clarity precedes clinically important variation rather than merely accompanying it.

Capturing temporal ordering

Repeated assessment turns sequence into part of the hypothesis.

LevelWithin-person daily process
DataRepeated daily assessments
ConstructSelf-concept clarity
Temporal focusOrdering and short-term change

Move from trait to day

A person’s average level and a person’s changing days answer different questions.

Between-person comparisons describe who tends to report more or less clarity on average.

What a day-level design can ask

The timing of change matters as much as the average level.

  1. 01

    How much does self-concept clarity vary within a person?

  2. 02

    Does the timing of that variation matter?

  3. 03

    What is missed when daily processes are reduced to a single trait score?