A questionnaire for quantifying subjective significance of names: physiological validation with PAT

A questionnaire was developed in order to assess the subjective significance of names. Autonomic activation by the names was measured physiologically - by the PAT (peripheral arterial tonus) signal, and correlated with affective significance as revealed by the questionnaire. The final version of the questionnaire included 22 dichotomous and 24 rating questions. Subjective significance to the participant of first names was defined as subjective significance of persons in the participant's life that bear the name. Three reliable factors affecting questionnaire scores were found: (1) general subjective significance (26 items); (2) recency of contact (8 items); and (3) negative impact (12 items). These 3 factors accounted for 98% of the variance in questionnaire scores, and correlated in the expected direction with autonomic response measures. This questionnaire can serve psychological and social studies of relationships and personality.