Reliability and Construct Validity of the Body Cathexis Scale

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the reliability and validity of the Body Cathexis Scale, testing 50 female college students (At age 24.2 ± 1.8 yr.) who completed the Tennessee Self-concept Scale and the Body Cathexis Scale. Two weeks later, the subjects were readministered the Body Cathexis Scale. Pearson's correlations were computed to determine the reliability of the Body Cathexis Scale and the relationship between the Body Cathexis Scale and 7 Tennessee Self-concept subscales. Test-retest reliability was .89. Scores on the Body Cathexis Scale were significantly correlated with those on physical self (.64), personal self (.60), family self (.35), social self (.62) and total positive (.62), but not with moral-ethical self (.23) or self-criticism (– .05). The findings suggest that the Body Cathexis Scale is reliable and has a measure of construct validity.