False Self Scale – Relationships with Other Christians

Abstract

The False Self Scale-Relationships with Other Christians (FSS-ROC) is a specialized adaptation of the original False Self Scale developed by Sippola, Buchanan, and Kehoe in 2007. This instrument is designed to assess the degree to which an individual experiences false self tendencies, or inauthenticity, specifically within the context of their interactions with fellow believers or members of a Christian community. The scale measures the perceived necessity of adopting a specific persona or suppressing genuine thoughts and feelings in order to gain acceptance or avoid disapproval from other Christians.

Keywords

False Self, Authenticity, Inauthenticity, Christian relationships, Religious psychology, Self-presentation, Social conformity, Social roles

Authors

L. K. Sippola, C. M. Buchanan, and S. Kehoe

Purpose

The primary purpose of the False Self Scale-Relationships with Other Christians is to quantify relationship-specific tendencies toward inauthenticity within a particular social and spiritual environment. Researchers utilize this scale to understand how religious or communal pressure might influence an individual’s self-disclosure and behavioral expression. It provides a structured method for examining the discrepancy between an individual’s private, genuine self and the public, curated self presented to their religious peers.

The scale items address feelings of needing to act a certain way, the difficulty of being one’s true self, and the perception that others do not know the “true” individual. By focusing on the Christian social environment, the instrument allows for targeted research into the psychological dynamics of religious socialization and conformity.

Construct

The FSS-ROC measures the psychological construct of the False Self, rooted in the psychoanalytic tradition but operationalized here as a measure of social inauthenticity. The False Self is defined as a defensive, protective facade used in social interactions, often developed when individuals feel that their true self is unacceptable or would lead to rejection. The opposite construct, authenticity, is characterized by open self-expression, honesty about one’s feelings and beliefs, and congruence between internal experience and external behavior.

In this specialized adaptation, the construct is contextualized: it is not measuring general personality traits but rather the state-like tendency to engage in false self behaviors exclusively when interacting with other Christians. High scores indicate a high degree of perceived social pressure and subsequent inauthentic self-presentation within that specific religious context.

Validity

While the FSS-ROC is an adaptation, its validity rests upon the psychometric properties established for the original False Self Scale (often used in the context of adolescent romantic relationships). Studies utilizing the original scale have demonstrated strong construct validity, showing expected correlations with measures of self-esteem, attachment styles, and relationship quality. For the adapted version targeting Christian relationships, concurrent validity is typically established by correlating FSS-ROC scores with measures of religious commitment, spiritual struggle, and social anxiety within religious settings.

The face validity of the scale is high, as items directly address feelings of pretense and concealment from religious peers. Researchers often rely on this adapted version’s ability to differentiate between individuals who feel accepted for who they are versus those who feel compelled to conform to group expectations, thereby demonstrating criterion validity related to relational outcomes in religious communities.

Reliability

The reliability of the False Self Scale generally, and its adaptations, is typically assessed through internal consistency, most commonly using Cronbach’s alpha. The original scale often yields high reliability coefficients (e.g., above .80), indicating that the items cohere strongly and measure a single underlying construct (inauthenticity). Because the FSS-ROC retains the structure and thematic content of the original items, it is expected to maintain similar levels of internal reliability when administered to relevant populations.

Test-retest reliability is also important, suggesting that the tendency toward false self-presentation in specific relationships is a relatively stable characteristic over time, though it may fluctuate based on current relational stress or development stages within the religious community.

Factor Analysis

The original False Self Scale is typically conceptualized as a unidimensional measure of inauthenticity. Factor analysis (e.g., Principal Components Analysis) applied to the FSS-ROC is expected to yield a single dominant factor, representing the overall tendency toward false self-presentation within the specified context (relationships with other Christians). This confirms that all seven items contribute meaningfully to the measurement of this singular construct.

If multidimensionality were observed, it would suggest distinct facets of the false self—such as behavioral pretense versus emotional concealment—are emerging within the religious context, requiring further theoretical refinement of the scale’s structure.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire

Format: The scale uses a 5-point Likert Scale response format, ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree).

Language Available: English (as adapted from the original 2007 publication).

Population Group: Individuals involved in or interacting with a Christian community.

Age Group: Typically used with late adolescents and young adults, though applicable to adults generally.

Population Details: The scale is designed for individuals who have ongoing relational experiences with other Christians, allowing them to evaluate their level of authenticity within that social framework.

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to indicate their level of agreement with each statement based on their general experiences when interacting with other Christians. Scores are typically summed or averaged, with higher scores indicating greater false self tendencies.

Keywords

Self-concept, Social Psychology, Religious identity, Measurement instrument, Adaptation, Inauthenticity, Faith community

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Information not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Information not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Information not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original scale was published in 2007 by L. K. Sippola, C. M. Buchanan, and S. Kehoe in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. The adaptation for relationships with other Christians utilizes items from the 2007 work, adapted with permission from the original copyright holder (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates). Researchers interested in use should consult the original publication for specific permissions and licensing requirements. The original PDF related to a study using this scale can be downloaded here: http://www.acu.edu/academics/cas/psychology/documents/beck/Attachment%20to%20God.pdf

Reference’s

• Sippola, L. K., Buchanan, C. M., & Kehoe, S. (2007). Correlates of False Self in Adolescent Romantic Relationships. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 36(4), 515–521. Copyright 2007 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (Source of original items).

• The False Self Scale-Relationships with Other Christians adaptation was utilized in subsequent research focusing on religious and spiritual contexts.

Items of the False Self Scale-Relationships with Other Christians

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the statements listed below. Answer each item based on your experiences in relationship with God. We are interested in how you generally experience your relationship with God, not just in what is happening in that relationship currently.

1= Strongly disagree. 2= Somewhat disagree, 3= Neither agree nor disagree, 4= Somewhat Agree, 5= Strongly Agree

1. It is harder to be myself when I am interacting with other Christians than when I am not.
2. I feel I have to act a certain way to please other Christians.
3. I feel like I am a different person when I am interacting with other Christians.
4. In order for other Christians to like me, I cannot reveal cel1ain things about myself to them.
5. I don’t really act like my true self when I am interacting with other Christians.
6. Other Christians appreciate me for who I am.
7. I feel that other Christians don’t know the “true” me.