Psychological Reports, 1990, 66, 771-774.
@ Psychological Reports 1990
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE: A STUDY O F SPANISH HOUSEWIVES '
University of Valencia Summary.-The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability with 93 Spanish housewives of the translated Self-consciousness Scale. We present reliability measures and normative data, and we also include data for two clinical samples (31 depressive and 31 asthmatic women patients).
The Self-consciousness Scale (2, 5 ) is a questionnaire designed to measure individual differences in private and public self-consciousness, which also incorporates a measure of social anxiety. Private self-consciousness is meant to account for the tendency to attend to one's inner thoughts and feelings. Public self-consciousness is defined by a general awareness of the self as a social object which has an effect on others. Social anxiety is defined by a discomfort felt in the presence of others. This scale was revised by Scheier and Carver ( 5 ) who proposed a version that would be suitable for use with general (noncollege) samples. The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of the scale translated for use with Spanish samples. The translation process we made has been described in a previous work (1).As we used general samples, the scale revised by Scheier and Carver was employed (5). We describe here some basic psychometric properties of the translated version, i.e., reliability measures and normative data. Furthermore, we include two clinical samples (depressive and asthmatic patients), and present their normative data. Criterion group characteristics are specified.
METHOD The over-all sample was composed of 93 women, all subjects being housewives who had completed secondary school. None of them had studied at the university. All were from similar geographical origins-small towns close to the city-and belonged to the middle-social class. There were three groups. The depressive group included 31 women, whose mean age was 41.6 yr. They maintained regular contact with the Outpatient Service at the Psychiatric Clinic of the General Hospital in Valencia, Spain. AU met the DSM-111-R criteria for Disthymic Disorders and obtained extreme scores on MMPI-D ( 216) (3). In the Asthmatic group were 31 women whose mean age was 44.7 yr. All were outpatients at the Hospital La Fe in Valencia, and they satisfied the criteria for asthma of the American Thoracic Society. None of them had a previous story of mental disorder and they obtained low scores on MMPI-D ( 5 9 ) (3). In the normal group were 31 women of a mean age of 42.6 yr. None had a previous history of mental disorder and their scores on MMPI-D (3) were low ( 5 9 ) . All of them were recruited from neighborhood associations. 'Address correspondence to Prof. A. Belloch, University of Valencia, Dept. de Personalitat, Avaluacio i, Tractaments Psicologics, Facultat de Psicologia, Avda. Blasco Ib6iiez 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
772
R. M. B A ~ ~ O ETAL. S,
Reliability: Internal Consistency Three separate Cronbach alphas were computed, one for the internal consistency of each subscale, for the total sample, and for the three groups separately. Values are shown in Table l . The alphas for public self-consciousness were lower than those reported by Scheier and Carver ( 5 ) for their whole sample. In contrast, the alphas for private self-consciousness are clearly higher than those in the above-mentioned study, whereas for social anxiety alphas are similar to those in the current literature. TABLE 1
R E L I A B I ~h s c m s FORSELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE(ns= 3 1) Subscale Depressive Public Private Social Anxiety
Group Asthmatic Normal
.68
.73
.90
.94 .81
.74
.81 .91 .90
All .75
.92 .81
ltem Analysis An item analysis of the three subscales was calculated by correlating the score on each item with the total subscale score. We obtained significant correlations ( p < .01) for the total sample of 93 women. When scores for the three groups were separately analysed, Item 22 from the Social Anxiety subscale showed significant correlations with the total scores for both Public and Private Self-consciousness in all the three groups. Also, for the depressive group, only three items for Public Self-consciousness, Nos. 5, 13, 20, were correlated with the total score.
Factor Analysis and Subscale Intercorrelations Table 2 presents the results of a principal factor analysis with varimax rotation for the total sample of 93 women, when the number of variables was 25. Three factors were retained for final rotation, as was done when the Self-consciousness Scale was originally factor analysed by Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (2) and by Scheier and Carver ( 5 ) . Inspection of Table 2 provides the basis for two conclusions. Firstly, the present factor analysis bears a strong resemblance in terms of the over-all pattern of loadings to those reported by the above-cited authors. Secondly, and unlike prior analyses, we obtained a more homogeneous structure within each of the subscales, i.e., there was only one item (No. 18) from the Public Self-consciousness subscale that loaded on Social Anxiety, and two from the Private Self-consciousness subscale (Nos. 12 and 19) that also loaded on the Public Self-consciousness subscale.
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE TABLE 2
I m s AND THEIRFACTOR LOADINGS ONSELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE Item No.
Factor Loading
Public
Private
Social Anxiety
Public Self-consciousness 2 5 10 13 16 18 20
Total Private Self-consciousness
.41 .65 .38 .71 .57 .23 .87 .87
1 4
6 8 12 14 17 19 Ll
Total Social Anxiety 3 7 9 11 15 22
Total Variance Explained
% of
.64 .67 .66 -.72
.73 .32 13.15
.49 .95 14.50
16.20
Norms Table 3 presents normative data for all the three groups on the three subscales. Analysis of variance and multiple-range analysis indicated that the scores for the three groups did not differ on either of the Public and Private Self-consciousness scales, but scores did differ on Social Anxiety (F,,fl,= 5.33, p < .006), on which the depressive women obtained higher scores. Our depressive patients then did not show increased scores on Private Self-consciousness relative to scores of the other two criterion groups. Conclusions The revised test as translated seems to be suitable for application to Spanish women (normal, clinically depressed and/or asthmatic). The psychometric properties, alpha estimates, factor structure, and normative levels, are
774
R. M. BANOS, E T A L .
quite similar to those obtained with American populations. In our case, the sample was composed only of women; however, similar results would be expected for men, as Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (2), and Scheier and Carver (5) observed no sex differences. TABLE 3
WNS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS FORDEPRESSIVE AND ASTHMATIC PATENTS A N D NORMAL WOMEN Subscale Public Self-consciousness Private Self-consciousness Social Anxiety
Depressive
Asthmatic
Normal
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
19.76 26.40 17.11
4.90 3.90 5.55
20.30 25.00 14.21
4.00 5.00 3.23
19.60 24.70 13.43
3.30 4.80 4.01
Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (2) pointed out the necessity of having norms for clinical populations. We have begun to take into account this issue by presenting normative data for groups of depressive and asthmatic women. These data indicate no differences among all three of these groups, except on social anxiety. Furthermore, we calculated correlations between scores on MMPI-D and a l l three self-consciousness subscales. Three correlation matrices were obtained, one for each group. Both in normal and asthmatic groups, there were no significant correlations. In the depressive group only one significant correlation was noted, but it was between Social Anxiety and MMPI-D (r = .45, p < .01). These results as well as the absence of differences were not expected because the current literature on depression and self-consciousness indicate a tendency for depressed people to be highly self-focused and a relationship between depression and private self-consciousness (4). This fact may reflect the difierent cultures (USA, Spain) or be the result of employing clinically depressed patients instead of students with high scores on depression scales (e.g., MMPI-D, Beck Depression Inventory, etc.), as in the prior USA studies. REFERENCES 1. BAROS, R. M., & BELLOCH,A. (in press) La escala de Auto-Conciencia (SCS): consideraciones metod6logicas y utilidad clinica. Anales de Psiquiab.ia. 2. FENIGSTEIN, A,, SCHEIER,M. F., & BUSS, A. H. (1975) Public and private self-consciousness: assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 522-527. Problemas de validez en la escala 3. GARC~A MERITA,M., BALAGLIER, I., & I B A ~ ~ E. E Z(1984) , de Depresi6n del MMPI. Reuisfd de Psicologia General y Aplicada, 39, 313-340. 4. PYSZCZYNSKY, T., & GREENBERG, J. (1787) Self-regulatory erseveration and the depressive
self-focusing style: a self-awareness theory of reactive Bepression. Psychological Bulktin, 102, 122-138. 5, SCHEIER,M. F., & CARVER, C. S. (1985) The Self-consciousness Scale: a revised version for use with general population. lournal of Applied Social Psychology, 15, 687-699.
Accepfed March 19, 1990.
@ Psychological Reports 1990
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE: A STUDY O F SPANISH HOUSEWIVES '
University of Valencia Summary.-The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability with 93 Spanish housewives of the translated Self-consciousness Scale. We present reliability measures and normative data, and we also include data for two clinical samples (31 depressive and 31 asthmatic women patients).
The Self-consciousness Scale (2, 5 ) is a questionnaire designed to measure individual differences in private and public self-consciousness, which also incorporates a measure of social anxiety. Private self-consciousness is meant to account for the tendency to attend to one's inner thoughts and feelings. Public self-consciousness is defined by a general awareness of the self as a social object which has an effect on others. Social anxiety is defined by a discomfort felt in the presence of others. This scale was revised by Scheier and Carver ( 5 ) who proposed a version that would be suitable for use with general (noncollege) samples. The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of the scale translated for use with Spanish samples. The translation process we made has been described in a previous work (1).As we used general samples, the scale revised by Scheier and Carver was employed (5). We describe here some basic psychometric properties of the translated version, i.e., reliability measures and normative data. Furthermore, we include two clinical samples (depressive and asthmatic patients), and present their normative data. Criterion group characteristics are specified.
METHOD The over-all sample was composed of 93 women, all subjects being housewives who had completed secondary school. None of them had studied at the university. All were from similar geographical origins-small towns close to the city-and belonged to the middle-social class. There were three groups. The depressive group included 31 women, whose mean age was 41.6 yr. They maintained regular contact with the Outpatient Service at the Psychiatric Clinic of the General Hospital in Valencia, Spain. AU met the DSM-111-R criteria for Disthymic Disorders and obtained extreme scores on MMPI-D ( 216) (3). In the Asthmatic group were 31 women whose mean age was 44.7 yr. All were outpatients at the Hospital La Fe in Valencia, and they satisfied the criteria for asthma of the American Thoracic Society. None of them had a previous story of mental disorder and they obtained low scores on MMPI-D ( 5 9 ) (3). In the normal group were 31 women of a mean age of 42.6 yr. None had a previous history of mental disorder and their scores on MMPI-D (3) were low ( 5 9 ) . All of them were recruited from neighborhood associations. 'Address correspondence to Prof. A. Belloch, University of Valencia, Dept. de Personalitat, Avaluacio i, Tractaments Psicologics, Facultat de Psicologia, Avda. Blasco Ib6iiez 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
772
R. M. B A ~ ~ O ETAL. S,
Reliability: Internal Consistency Three separate Cronbach alphas were computed, one for the internal consistency of each subscale, for the total sample, and for the three groups separately. Values are shown in Table l . The alphas for public self-consciousness were lower than those reported by Scheier and Carver ( 5 ) for their whole sample. In contrast, the alphas for private self-consciousness are clearly higher than those in the above-mentioned study, whereas for social anxiety alphas are similar to those in the current literature. TABLE 1
R E L I A B I ~h s c m s FORSELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE(ns= 3 1) Subscale Depressive Public Private Social Anxiety
Group Asthmatic Normal
.68
.73
.90
.94 .81
.74
.81 .91 .90
All .75
.92 .81
ltem Analysis An item analysis of the three subscales was calculated by correlating the score on each item with the total subscale score. We obtained significant correlations ( p < .01) for the total sample of 93 women. When scores for the three groups were separately analysed, Item 22 from the Social Anxiety subscale showed significant correlations with the total scores for both Public and Private Self-consciousness in all the three groups. Also, for the depressive group, only three items for Public Self-consciousness, Nos. 5, 13, 20, were correlated with the total score.
Factor Analysis and Subscale Intercorrelations Table 2 presents the results of a principal factor analysis with varimax rotation for the total sample of 93 women, when the number of variables was 25. Three factors were retained for final rotation, as was done when the Self-consciousness Scale was originally factor analysed by Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (2) and by Scheier and Carver ( 5 ) . Inspection of Table 2 provides the basis for two conclusions. Firstly, the present factor analysis bears a strong resemblance in terms of the over-all pattern of loadings to those reported by the above-cited authors. Secondly, and unlike prior analyses, we obtained a more homogeneous structure within each of the subscales, i.e., there was only one item (No. 18) from the Public Self-consciousness subscale that loaded on Social Anxiety, and two from the Private Self-consciousness subscale (Nos. 12 and 19) that also loaded on the Public Self-consciousness subscale.
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE TABLE 2
I m s AND THEIRFACTOR LOADINGS ONSELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE Item No.
Factor Loading
Public
Private
Social Anxiety
Public Self-consciousness 2 5 10 13 16 18 20
Total Private Self-consciousness
.41 .65 .38 .71 .57 .23 .87 .87
1 4
6 8 12 14 17 19 Ll
Total Social Anxiety 3 7 9 11 15 22
Total Variance Explained
% of
.64 .67 .66 -.72
.73 .32 13.15
.49 .95 14.50
16.20
Norms Table 3 presents normative data for all the three groups on the three subscales. Analysis of variance and multiple-range analysis indicated that the scores for the three groups did not differ on either of the Public and Private Self-consciousness scales, but scores did differ on Social Anxiety (F,,fl,= 5.33, p < .006), on which the depressive women obtained higher scores. Our depressive patients then did not show increased scores on Private Self-consciousness relative to scores of the other two criterion groups. Conclusions The revised test as translated seems to be suitable for application to Spanish women (normal, clinically depressed and/or asthmatic). The psychometric properties, alpha estimates, factor structure, and normative levels, are
774
R. M. BANOS, E T A L .
quite similar to those obtained with American populations. In our case, the sample was composed only of women; however, similar results would be expected for men, as Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (2), and Scheier and Carver (5) observed no sex differences. TABLE 3
WNS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS FORDEPRESSIVE AND ASTHMATIC PATENTS A N D NORMAL WOMEN Subscale Public Self-consciousness Private Self-consciousness Social Anxiety
Depressive
Asthmatic
Normal
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
19.76 26.40 17.11
4.90 3.90 5.55
20.30 25.00 14.21
4.00 5.00 3.23
19.60 24.70 13.43
3.30 4.80 4.01
Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (2) pointed out the necessity of having norms for clinical populations. We have begun to take into account this issue by presenting normative data for groups of depressive and asthmatic women. These data indicate no differences among all three of these groups, except on social anxiety. Furthermore, we calculated correlations between scores on MMPI-D and a l l three self-consciousness subscales. Three correlation matrices were obtained, one for each group. Both in normal and asthmatic groups, there were no significant correlations. In the depressive group only one significant correlation was noted, but it was between Social Anxiety and MMPI-D (r = .45, p < .01). These results as well as the absence of differences were not expected because the current literature on depression and self-consciousness indicate a tendency for depressed people to be highly self-focused and a relationship between depression and private self-consciousness (4). This fact may reflect the difierent cultures (USA, Spain) or be the result of employing clinically depressed patients instead of students with high scores on depression scales (e.g., MMPI-D, Beck Depression Inventory, etc.), as in the prior USA studies. REFERENCES 1. BAROS, R. M., & BELLOCH,A. (in press) La escala de Auto-Conciencia (SCS): consideraciones metod6logicas y utilidad clinica. Anales de Psiquiab.ia. 2. FENIGSTEIN, A,, SCHEIER,M. F., & BUSS, A. H. (1975) Public and private self-consciousness: assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 522-527. Problemas de validez en la escala 3. GARC~A MERITA,M., BALAGLIER, I., & I B A ~ ~ E. E Z(1984) , de Depresi6n del MMPI. Reuisfd de Psicologia General y Aplicada, 39, 313-340. 4. PYSZCZYNSKY, T., & GREENBERG, J. (1787) Self-regulatory erseveration and the depressive
self-focusing style: a self-awareness theory of reactive Bepression. Psychological Bulktin, 102, 122-138. 5, SCHEIER,M. F., & CARVER, C. S. (1985) The Self-consciousness Scale: a revised version for use with general population. lournal of Applied Social Psychology, 15, 687-699.
Accepfed March 19, 1990.
