Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ-2)

Abstract

The Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ-2) is a psychometric instrument developed primarily by Harder and Lewis (1987) designed to measure an individual’s proneness toward experiencing specific self-conscious emotions, namely shame and guilt. As a refinement of earlier measures, the PFQ-2 consists of 22 items rated on a 5-point scale, allowing researchers and clinicians to assess differential tendencies in emotional response patterns. The scale is frequently utilized in studies of personality assessment, psychopathology, and moral affect. The PFQ-2 successfully separates shame (a global negative evaluation of the self) from guilt (a negative evaluation of a specific behavior), which is crucial for informing psychological interventions.

Keywords

PFQ-2, Shame, Guilt, Self-Conscious Emotions, Personality Assessment, Affective Disorders, Proneness, Harder.

Authors

D. W. Harder, S. J. Lewis, L. Rockart, L. Cutler.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the PFQ-2 is to provide a reliable and valid measure for distinguishing between the trait-level affective experiences of shame and guilt. While these emotions often co-occur and are related to self-evaluation, they have distinct theoretical and clinical implications regarding their impact on psychological well-being and behavior. The instrument aims to capture stable individual differences in the frequency and intensity with which a person experiences these specific feelings.

This differential measurement is highly valuable in clinical psychology and research, particularly in understanding the etiology and maintenance of various maladaptive behaviors and psychological disorders. For instance, the PFQ-2 has been applied in studies examining issues such as depression, anxiety, difficulties related to self-esteem, and the role of self-forgiveness in conditions like substance abuse, as seen in the work by Scherer (2010).

Construct

The PFQ-2 measures two primary, related, but conceptually distinct constructs: shame proneness and guilt proneness. Shame, as operationalized by items such as “Feeling humiliated,” “Feeling ridiculous,” and “Feeling disgusting to others,” is characterized by a global negative evaluation of the self (“I am bad”). Shame is an emotion focused on the self as flawed or defective, typically leading to motivations for hiding, avoidance, and withdrawal.

In contrast, guilt proneness, measured by items including “Mild guilt,” “Intense guilt,” “Regret,” and “Remorse,” reflects a focus on a specific behavior or action (“I did something bad”). Guilt is generally associated with constructive motivations, such as making amends, repairing damage, and preventing future negative actions. The PFQ-2 successfully isolates these two constructs, providing a nuanced perspective on an individual’s self-conscious emotional landscape.

Validity

Substantial evidence supports the construct validity of the PFQ-2. Harder (1990) and subsequent research by Harder, Rockart, and Cutler (1993) provided comprehensive validity evidence, confirming that the scale accurately measures the intended constructs of shame and guilt proneness as distinct psychological phenomena. The scale has demonstrated strong convergent validity through appropriate correlations with related measures of personality and affective style.

Furthermore, the PFQ-2 exhibits robust discriminant validity. Studies consistently show that shame scores relate more strongly to indicators of poor psychological adjustment, such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, while guilt scores often show a more complex relationship, sometimes correlating positively with empathy and constructive coping mechanisms, reinforcing the theoretical separation between these two self-conscious emotions.

Reliability

The PFQ-2 demonstrates strong psychometric qualities regarding its reliability, particularly in terms of internal consistency. Both the shame and guilt subscales typically yield high coefficient alpha values across diverse research samples, indicating that the items within each subscale are highly homogeneous and consistently measure their respective underlying construct.

While the specific retest coefficients were not provided in the source material, the consistent use of the PFQ-2 as a measure of “proneness” implies that it possesses satisfactory test-retest reliability, confirming that the scores are stable measures of trait-level emotional tendencies over clinically relevant periods.

Factor Analysis

The structure of the PFQ-2 inherently supports a two-factor model corresponding to the shame and guilt subscales. Factor analysis studies conducted during the development and subsequent validation of the PFQ-2 (e.g., Harder et al., 1993) confirm that the 22 items load onto two primary factors. This empirical separation provides critical support for the theoretical assertion that shame and guilt, while often experienced simultaneously, represent distinct affective dimensions.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire / Psychological testing instrument.

Format: 22 items utilizing a 5-point Likert-type response scale.

Language Available: English (Primary publication language).

Population Group: General population; Clinical populations (specifically studied in relation to alcohol misuse).

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults.

Population Details: Primarily developed and validated using college students and adult participants in clinical and non-clinical research settings.

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to indicate the strength or frequency with which they experience each listed feeling using the following anchors: 4 = I experience the feeling very strongly, 3 = I experience the feeling strongly, 2 = I experience the feeling moderately, 1 = I experience the feeling a little bit, 0 = I do not experience the feeling.

Keywords

Shame Proneness, Guilt Proneness, Self-Conscious Affect, Harder & Lewis, Clinical Assessment, Psychometrics.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: N/A

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ-2) was originally introduced in 1987 by Harder and Lewis. The scale has been extensively used in academic research, often appearing in dissertations and journal articles without specific commercial licensing requirements for research purposes. Information regarding specific permissions and licensing fees for clinical or commercial use should be sought directly from the original authors or the publishers of the initial validation studies.

The instrument is documented in various academic sources, including page 123 of the dissertation “Forgiveness and the Bottle: Promoting Self-forgiveness with Alcohol Misuse” (Scherer, 2010). The original PDF containing the instrument can be downloaded here: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3108&context=etd

Reference’s

• Harder, D. W. (1990). Additional construct validity evidence for the Harder Personal Feelings Questionnaire measure of shame and guilt proneness. Psychology Reports, 67, 288–290.
• Harder, D. W., & Lewis, S. J. (1987). The assessment of shame and guilt. In C. D. Spielberger, & J. N. Butcher (Eds.), Advances in personality assessment (pp. 89-114). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
• Harder, D. W., Rockart, L., & Cutler, L. (1993). Additional validity evidence for the Harder Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ2): a measure of shame and guilt proneness. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59, 584–604.
• Scherer, Michael (2010). “Forgiveness and the Bottle: Promoting Self-forgiveness with Alcohol Misuse.” Virginia Commonwealth University. Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2109.

Items of the Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ-2)

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

1. Embarrassment
2. Mild guilt
3. Feeling ridiculous
4. Worry about hurting or injuring someone
5. Sadness
6. Self-consciousness
7. Feeling humiliated
8. Intense guilt
9. Euphoria
10. Feeling “stupid”
11. Regret
12. Feeling “childish”
13. Mild happiness
14. Feeling helpless, paralyzed
15. Depression
16. Feelings of blushing
17. Feeling you deserve criticism for what you did.
18. Feeling laughable
19. Rage
20. Enjoyment
21. Feeling disgusting to others
22. Remorse

Shame items: 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 21

Guilt items: 2, 4, 8, 11, 17, and 22