The Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness Scale--I. Internal structure and stability

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Oncology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Previous research linked emotional repression/denial to cancer mortality.
• The Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) Scale was developed to assess these traits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the psychometric properties of the R/ED Scale.
• To examine gender and age differences in emotional defensiveness and rationality.
• To explore potential interactions between psychological constructs, gender, age, and cancer status.

Main Methods:

• A 27-year follow-up study of the Western Collaborative Group Study.
• Involved 1236 males and 863 females with a mean age of 71.8 and 68.5 years, respectively.
• Psychometric analyses including interitem consistency and factor analysis of the R/ED Scale.

Main Results:

• The R/ED Scale demonstrated high interitem consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77-0.78).
• Two stable factors emerged: 'Anti-emotionality' (27% variance) and 'Rationality' (21% variance).
• Significant gender differences were found in R/ED scores, and potential interactions with cancer status and age were suggested.

Conclusions:

• The R/ED Scale is a psychometrically sound measure for assessing emotional defensiveness and rationality.
• Emotional repression/denial is not a unidimensional construct, as suggested by previous research.
• Age and gender significantly influence these psychological constructs and their relationship with cancer status.