Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale

Abstract

The Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale (SSCS) is a 12-item psychometric study instrument designed to quantify individual differences in the tendency to experience self-focused attention and discomfort in sexual situations. Research suggests that high levels of sexual self-consciousness function as a potential vulnerability factor for the development of sexual dysfunction, primarily by impeding physiological genital arousal through reduced processing capacity. Initially developed from 15 items based on sexological literature and expert opinion, the final 12-item scale was validated in a study of 282 participants. Factor analysis revealed a robust two-component structure: Sexual Embarrassment and Sexual Self-Focus, analogous to the private and public aspects measured by the general Self-Consciousness Scale.

Keywords

Sexual self-consciousness, self-focused attention, sexual embarrassment, sexual dysfunction, psychometrics, self-report scale, genital responsiveness, vulnerability factor.

Authors

J. J. D. M. VAN LANKVELD, H. SYKORA, W. E. H. GEIJEN, T. Hendriks (initial item selection).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale (SSCS) is to measure the trait-like propensity for individuals to become self-conscious when engaged in sexual situations. This measurement is crucial because self-focused attention, particularly when induced experimentally, has been shown to interact with this personality trait, resulting in impaired physiological sexual responsiveness.

While experimental studies indicate that a state of self-focused attention can have impeding effects on genital arousal (Meston, 2006), the SSCS assesses the underlying dispositional trait. The scale helps identify individuals for whom this disposition may constitute a significant psychological vulnerability factor contributing to the onset or maintenance of sexual dysfunction, even though subjective experience of excitement may remain unaffected.

Construct

The SSCS measures the construct of Sexual Self-Consciousness, conceptualized as a dispositional tendency toward heightened self-awareness during sexual activity. The scale is structured around two distinct components, which mirror the public and private facets of general self-consciousness, as defined by the original Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975).

• Sexual Embarrassment: This component captures aspects related to sexual anxiety, discomfort, shyness, and the perceived experience of being observed by the partner.
• Sexual Self-Focus: This component addresses internal attention, including preoccupation with one’s own sexual thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and the impression one is making on the partner.

Validity

The SSCS demonstrates strong evidence of criterion and construct validity, particularly in differentiating between sexually functional and dysfunctional populations. A psychometric study (van Lankveld, Geijen, & Sykora, 2008) involving 61 sexually dysfunctional participants (42 women, 19 men) revealed significant differences in SSCS scores.

Sexually dysfunctional participants scored significantly higher on both the Sexual Embarrassment (F(1, 235) = 10.98, p = .001) and Sexual Self-Focus (F(1, 235) = 8.97, p < .005) subscales compared to their functional counterparts. Furthermore, validity testing showed that women scored significantly higher than men on Sexual Embarrassment, though Sex did not affect Sexual Self-Focus scores. Participants without a steady partner also scored higher on Sexual Embarrassment.

In terms of convergent validity, both SSCS subscales showed medium-to-large correlations with the subscales of the general Self-Consciousness Scale, supporting the theoretical link between these constructs. Divergent validity analysis showed that Sexual Self-Focus had nonsignificant or medium correlations with psychological distress measures (SCL-90), while Sexual Embarrassment showed large correlations (r = .36 to r = .49) with distress subscales like Somatic Complaints and Depression, suggesting that embarrassment is closely linked to general psychological discomfort.

Reliability

The SSCS demonstrates good to satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The internal consistency, measured using Cronbach’s alpha, was found to be good for the full 12-item scale (α = .85). Specific subscale reliabilities were also strong:

• Sexual Embarrassment Subscale: α = .84 (Good)
• Sexual Self-Focus Subscale: α = .79 (Satisfactory)

The correlation between the two subscales (r = .44, p < .001) was substantially lower than their respective reliability coefficients, providing solid empirical evidence that the subscales measure two distinct, yet related, psychological concepts. Test-retest reliability, assessed after a 4-week interval, was satisfactory for both the total score (r = .79) and the individual subscales (Sexual Embarrassment, r = .84; Sexual Self-Focus, r = .79; all p’s < .001).

Factor Analysis

The psychometric development of the SSCS began with an initial 15-item questionnaire developed by Hendriks (1997). A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was conducted, which indicated that the best-fitting solution contained two components with eigenvalues greater than 1. Based on this PCA, Multitrait Scaling Analysis (Hays & Hayashi, 1990), and internal consistency checks, the scale was reduced to 12 items.

The final 12-item version was subjected to an oblimin-rotated PCA, which confirmed the two-factor structure. These two factors—Sexual Embarrassment (Component 1) and Sexual Self-Focus (Component 2)—together explained 53.7% of the total variance. The Sexual Embarrassment subscale accounted for 38.10% of the variance (Eigenvalue 4.58), and the Sexual Self-Focus subscale accounted for 15.60% (Eigenvalue 1.87).

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire/Psychological scale.

Format: 12 items presented as brief descriptive statements.

Language Available: Original research conducted in Dutch (implied by authors’ affiliation), items presented in English in the source material.

Population Group: General adult population and clinical populations (sexually functional and dysfunctional individuals).

Age Group: 16 to 75 years (based on the psychometric study sample).

Population Details: The validation sample consisted of 253 participants (171 women, 82 men) providing demographic and SSCS data. Female participants had a mean age of 25.6 years (SD = 7.7), and male participants had a mean age of 34.1 years (SD = 11.8). Most participants (80% of women, 89% of men) had a steady partner.

Test Methodology: Participants rate their level of endorsement on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 0 (Strongly Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree). Scoring is calculated as a sum score for each of the two subscales. Completion typically requires less than 5 minutes.

Keywords

SSCS, sexual self-focus, sexual embarrassment, psychometric instrument, personality trait, sexual health, clinical psychology, self-consciousness.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: J. J. D. M. van Lankveld, Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, P. O. Box 616, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 2008 (Year of publication of the primary psychometric validation study).

Permissions: Copyright held by Maastricht University, The Netherlands; J. J. D. M. van Lankveld, T. Hendriks, W. Geijen, & H. Sykora, 2008.

Fee: Not specified in the source material.

Reference’s

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M. F., & Buss, A. H. (1975). Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 522–527.

Hays, R., & Hayashi, T. (1990). Beyond internal consistency reliability: Rationale and user’s guide for Multitrait Analysis Program on the microcomputer. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 22, 167–175.

Hendriks, T. (1997). Een hypothetisch cognitief verklaringsmodel voor seksuele dysfuncties [A hypothetical cognitive explanatory model of sexual dysfunction]. Unpublished master’s thesis, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Meston, C. M. (2006). The effects of state and trait self-focused attention on sexual arousal in sexually functional and dysfunctional women. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 515–532.

van Lankveld, J. J. D. M., & Bergh, S. (2008). The interaction of state and trait aspects of self-focused attention affects genital, but not subjective, sexual arousal in sexually functional women. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 514–528.

van Lankveld, J. J. D. M., Geijen, W., & Sykora, H. (2008). Reliability and validity of the Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale: Psychometric properties. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37, 925–933.

van Lankveld, J. J. D. M., van den Hout, M. A., & Schouten, E. G. (2004). The effects of self-focused attention, performance demand, and dis- positional sexual self-consciousness on sexual arousal of sexually functional and dysfunctional men. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 915–935.

Items of the Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale

Instructions: Every question has 5 possible answers: Strongly Disagree (0), Disagree a Little (1), Neither Agree nor Disagree (2), Agree a Little (3), and Strongly Agree (4). Please encircle the number that you feel best represents your opinion. You don’t need to take much time to consider each item. However, it is important that you give the answer that best represents your opinion, not what you think your opinion should be. Please respond to each item.

1. I feel uncomfortable in sexual situations.
2. I often imagine how I behave during sex.
3. I pay much attention to my sexual thoughts and feelings.
4. I quickly feel embarrassed in sexual situations.
5. I often wonder during sex what the other person thinks of me.
6. I am preoccupied by the way I behave sexually.
7. I am aware during sex of the impression I make on the other person.
8. During sex, I pay much attention to what happens inside my body.
9. I find it difficult to sexually let myself go in front of the other person.
10. When I see myself during sex, I am irritatingly aware of myself.
11. It takes quite some time for me to overcome my shyness in sexual situations.
12. I continuously feel being observed by the other person during sex.