A Confirmatory Factoring of the Self-Consciousness Scale

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Personality Psychology

Background:

• The Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS) was developed by Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss in 1975 to measure self-consciousness.
• Burnkrant and Page (1984) conducted a confirmatory factor analysis to re-evaluate the SCS.
• Previous research has questioned the psychometric properties of the SCS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate the conclusions drawn by Burnkrant and Page (1984) regarding the SCS.
• To assess the validity of the original three-subscale structure of the SCS.
• To examine the statistical properties of items within the SCS subscales.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of item statistics and factor structure of the Self-Consciousness Scale.
• Comparison of the original Fenigstein et al. (1975) model with the proposed revisions by Burnkrant and Page (1984).
• Examination of item variability within the social anxiety and public self-consciousness subscales.

Main Results:

• The original three-subscale representation of the SCS by Fenigstein et al. (1975) fits the data well.
• Burnkrant and Page's (1984) conclusions may be based on incidental item statistics and could potentially weaken the scale.
• Items within the social anxiety and public self-consciousness subscales exhibit significant statistical differences in variability, mirroring their substantive differences.

Conclusions:

• The original SCS structure is statistically sound and substantively meaningful.
• Proposed revisions to the SCS by Burnkrant and Page (1984) are not supported and may be detrimental.
• Statistical properties of SCS items align with their conceptual distinctions, supporting the original scale's integrity.