Development and validation of a self-critical cognition scale

A 13-item Self-critical Cognition scale was developed to measure a self-critical and self-defeating cognitive tendency in processing self-relevant information. The scale, administered to 561 male and female university students, evidenced high internal consistency (alpha = .89) and test-retest reliability of r138 = .83 over a 6.5-week interval. A factor analysis yielded a most interpretable 2-factor solution, Factor 1: negative self-processing and Factor 2: failure in positive self-processing. The scale's construct validity was supported by meaningful correlations of -.71 with Rosenberg's self-esteem, .43 with Watson and Friend's social anxiety and distress, .62 with Cheek and Buss's shyness, .57 with Watson and Friend's fear of negative evaluation, .42 with Beck and Beamesderfer's depression, and .34 with negative adjective counts in spontaneous adjective listing in a self-descriptive task. Use of the scale for experimental and clinical research is suggested.