Significant Others Scale (SOS)

Abstract

The Significant Others Scale (SOS) is a specialized psychological scale developed by Power, Champion, and Aris in 1988 to comprehensively measure perceived and desired social support. Unlike global measures of social integration, the SOS focuses specifically on the quality and quantity of support received from nominated significant individuals (e.g., family, friends, partners). A key feature of the instrument is its dual assessment mechanism, which requires respondents to rate both the actual level of support provided by a significant other (the ‘can you’ rating) and the ideal level of support desired (the ‘ideal’ rating). This methodology allows researchers to calculate a discrepancy score, providing insight into potential sources of dissatisfaction or stress related to one’s support network.

Keywords

Significant Others Scale, SOS, social support, perceived support, emotional support, practical support, instrumental support, relationship quality, depression, psychological assessment.

Authors

M.J. Power, L.A. Champion, S.J. Aris

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Significant Others Scale is to provide a detailed, psychometrically sound measure of an individual’s available social support resources, differentiating between various types of support functions. It is designed to move beyond simple counts of relationships to evaluate the functional quality of those relationships, specifically focusing on how well nominated individuals meet the respondent’s emotional and practical needs.

A secondary, yet crucial, purpose is the generation of a discrepancy score. By comparing the actual support received (Item ‘a’) against the ideal support desired (Item ‘b’) across multiple support domains, the SOS allows clinicians and researchers to identify specific areas where support deficits exist. This deficit measurement is particularly valuable in clinical settings, especially when studying conditions like depression, where perceived lack of support often contributes to symptomatology.

Construct

The SOS measures the overarching construct of social support, which is generally understood to be multi-dimensional. The scale operationalizes this construct into distinct functional categories. Based on the item content and subsequent factor analysis (detailed below), the scale primarily captures two core dimensions:

• Emotional/Affective Support: This dimension covers items related to intimacy, trust, reassurance, comfort, and the ability to share feelings frankly (e.g., items 1, 2, 3, 4). This support type focuses on psychological well-being and relational closeness.
• Practical/Instrumental Support: This dimension includes items concerning tangible aid, advice, financial help, emergency assistance, and general social interaction (e.g., items 6, 7, 9, 10). This support type focuses on concrete assistance required to manage life demands.

The instrument also implicitly measures the construct of Support Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction through the calculated discrepancy score, which is the difference between the actual and ideal support ratings.

Validity

The initial validation of the Significant Others Scale demonstrated robust construct validity. The development study confirmed that the scale items adequately covered the broad domain of social support functions identified in existing literature. The SOS showed strong concurrent validity, correlating significantly with established, broader measures of social support, such as the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ), while offering a more refined, relationship-specific assessment.

Furthermore, the scale exhibits criterion validity, demonstrating significant relationships between low scores (or high discrepancy scores) and negative mental health outcomes, particularly symptoms of depression and anxiety. Research utilizing the SOS has consistently shown that perceived deficits in emotional support, as measured by the discrepancy score, are strong predictors of psychological distress.

Reliability

The reliability of the Significant Others Scale has been generally high across numerous studies. Internal consistency, typically assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, is strong for both the Emotional Support and Practical Support subscales, usually falling well above the acceptable threshold of 0.80. This indicates that the items within each factor are highly intercorrelated and measure the same underlying construct reliably.

Test-retest reliability, which measures the stability of the scores over time, has also been reported as satisfactory, suggesting that the SOS provides stable measurements of an individual’s perceived support network quality, provided the network itself has not undergone major changes between testing intervals.

Factor Analysis

The original factor analysis conducted during the scale’s development provided strong evidence for a multi-dimensional structure. Using principal components analysis, the 10 core items typically load onto two primary, orthogonal factors, which align closely with the theoretical distinction between emotional and practical support. These factors account for a substantial portion of the variance in the scale scores.

While the factor structure is robust, researchers occasionally utilize a single total support score for convenience. However, the use of the distinct Emotional and Practical subscale scores, alongside the discrepancy scores, is highly recommended as it preserves the nuanced diagnostic information intended by the scale’s authors.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale

Format: Likert scale, using a 7-point rating system (1 = never to 7 = always).

Language Available: Primarily English, though translations may exist in clinical research settings.

Population Group: Adults and adolescents.

Age Group: Typically 16 years and older.

Population Details: Originally validated on clinical and non-clinical samples in the UK. Applicable to general populations studying relational dynamics and specific clinical populations (e.g., those suffering from depression, anxiety, or chronic illness).

Test Methodology: Respondents first nominate several significant people in their lives, specifying the relationship (e.g., spouse, friend, coworker). For each nominated person, the respondent rates 10 different support functions twice: (a) the actual level of support received, and (b) the ideal level of support desired. Scoring involves summing item scores for actual support, summing item scores for ideal support, and calculating the difference (discrepancy) between the two for each subscale.

Keywords

Affective support, instrumental support, support discrepancy, clinical psychology, psychometric assessment, relationship measurement, stress, coping.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Information not consistently available in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Information not consistently available in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Information not consistently available in the source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Significant Others Scale (SOS) was initially developed and published in 1988. While the scale is widely used in academic and clinical research, users should consult the original publication or contact the primary authors for specific permission regarding commercial use or large-scale administration. The original PDF describing the scale development is available from the publisher (Wiley) and can be accessed here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8260.1988.tb00799.x/pdf. A separate document related to assessment is also linked here: http://goodmedicine.org.uk/files/assessment‚%20sos.DOC.

Reference’s

• Power, M.J., Champion, L. A., Aris, S. J. (1988). The development of a measure of social support: The Significant Others (SOS) Scale. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 27(4), 349-358.
• Champion, L. A & Power, M. J. (1995). Social and cognitive approaches to depression: Towards a new synthesis, British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 34, 485-503.

Items of the Significant Others Scale (SOS)

The SOS is structured around two main inquiry lines and 10 functional support items, rated on a 7-point scale (1 = never to 7 = always).

General Inquiry:

To what extent can you . . . ?

To what extent would you like to be able to . . . ?

Functional Support Items:

1. trust‚ talk to frankly and share feelings with;
2. lean on and turn to in times of difficulty;
3. get interest‚ reassurance and a good feeling about yourself;
4. get physical comfort;
5. resolve unpleasant disagreements if they occur;
6. get financial and practical help;
7. get suggestions‚ advice and feedback;
8. visit them or spend time socially;
9. get help in an emergency;
10. share interests and hobbies and have fun with;

Specific Administration Format (Rating per Significant Other):

name/relationship:

1. a can you trust‚ talk to frankly and share feelings with this person?

   b what rating would your ideal be?

2. a can you lean on and turn to this person in times of difficulty?

   b what rating would your ideal be?

3. a do they give you practical help?

   b what rating would your ideal be?

4. a can you spend time with them socially?

   b what rating would your ideal be?

Scoring Range: 1 = never to 7 = always