Development and Psychometric Properties of the Scale for Self-Consciousness Assessment

Abstract

This scale development employed Duval and Wicklund's (1972), Carver's (1979), and Zaborowski's (1987) theories on self-consciousness. The aim of the study was to create a new method to assess the self-consciousness construct, in an effort to operationally express self-consciousness, while circumventing existing metric and other impediments. Initially, 38 pilot interviews were conducted with undergraduate psychology students, and two studies followed, one on 494 participants and one on 248 participants. Exploratory factor analysis models, equivalence testing, followed by a third confirmatory factor analysis study on a separate sample of 216 participants, resulted in a final 24-item scale. A four-factor structure of two public and two private self-consciousness dimensions emerged. The Scale for Self-Consciousness Assessment (SSCA) can be of use in various areas of psychological research, possibly in concurrent use with other constructs of interest, due to its theoretical and research importance and its adequate psychometric properties.