Based on a theory of personality in which the self, considered as a perceptual agent, is defined in terms of interpersonal orientation, seven components of self-other orientation are proposed: (1) majority identification, (2) complexity, (3) power, (4) self-esteem, (5) self-centrality, (6) identification, and (7) social dependence. The self-social symbols tasks developed to measure these components require the subject to relate himself to the social environment and are primarily nonverbal in character. Four studies were conducted within this theoretical framework. Study I investigated the relation between self-concept and social desirability in 50 sixth grade white children. Study II considered the relation between self-concept and geographic mobility in 219 eighth grade students. Study III investigated developmental changes in self-concepts during adolescence based on a sample of 420 sixth through twelfth grade students. Study IV compared the self-other orientations of 100 Indian children from 10 to 14 years of age with 100 American children in the sixth through eighth grades. An appendix contains the seven self-social symbols tasks. (DR)