Self-perception among narcotic addicts: an exploratory study employing multidimensional scaling techniques.

The self-perception of narcotic addicts was investigated using multidimensional scaling techniques. Subjects consisted of two groups of narcotic addicts and one groups of treatment personnel at a federal addiction treatment facility. One group of addict subjects was newly admitted to the treatment center, while the other group had been in treatment for 3 to 5 months. All Ss judged the similarity of pairs of "stimulus people" representing several personality dimensions thought to be relevant to the study of narcoticaddiction. The judgment were analyzed using the INDSCAL, an individual differences scaling procedure. The data for all groups are adequately explained by a three-dimensional solution. Interpretations of the dimensions and their relative importance to the self-perception of the different groups are discussed.