Imaginary Audience Behavior: A Validation Study

Abstract

A revalidation study of the Elkind and Bowen Imaginary Audience Behavior (IAS) scale was undertaken using junior and senior high school adolescents from a consolidated rural school district. A total of 115 male and female adolescents between the ages of 11 and 18 years of age responded to the imaginary audience instrument, an empathy scale, a social sensitivity test, and a measure of social desirability tendencies. Reliability and construct validity were established for the IAS instrument. Although the results varied from the original validation study, age comparisons revealed a linear relationship between age and selfconsciousness. The relationship between age, imaginary audience behavior and self-reported concerns about body image during adolescence questions certain assumptions underlying the development of the Imaginary Audience Behavior scale.