The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale (SSDS)

Abstract

The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale (SSDS) is a robust psychological scale designed to quantify the extent and qualitative nature of an individual’s openness regarding various facets of their sexuality. Developed by W. E. Snell, Jr., and colleagues, the instrument exists in two primary forms: the original 60-item version, which assesses disclosure to specific non-partner social figures (such as parents and friends), and a revised, more comprehensive 72-item version specifically focusing on disclosure patterns exclusively within an intimate relationship. The SSDS provides a critical measure for sex research and relationship counseling by assessing communication across a broad spectrum of topics, including past sexual behaviors, private fantasies, personal attitudes concerning sexual morality and accountability, and associated emotional responses.

Keywords

Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale, SSDS, self-disclosure, sexuality, sexual communication, intimate relationships, psychometrics, sex research, sexual attitudes, sexual affect, communication patterns

Authors

W. E. Snell, Jr., S. S. Belk, D. R. Papini, S. Clark

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale (SSDS) is to systematically assess the degree to which individuals consciously share specific, often sensitive, information about their sexual selves. This measurement is theoretically crucial because sexual self-disclosure is considered foundational to the development of intimacy, trust, and overall relational satisfaction within close relationships.

The dual structure of the SSDS provides researchers and clinicians with a standardized tool capable of identifying specific areas of communicative openness or inhibition, depending on the recipient. Scale 1 (The Revised SSDS) is dedicated to measuring disclosure directed toward an intimate partner, while Scale 2 focuses on disclosure directed toward non-partner figures, such as mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend. This design allows for a comparative analysis of disclosure patterns across different relational targets.

Construct

The SSDS is centered on the construct of Sexual Self-Disclosure, which is formally defined as the conscious and voluntary sharing of personal and private information about one’s sexuality. This construct is recognized as highly multidimensional, requiring assessment across various psychological and behavioral domains.

The items are meticulously categorized into distinct content domains that reflect the complexity of the sexual self. These domains span observable actions (e.g., sexual behaviors and preferences), internal psychological states (e.g., sexual fantasies and emotional affect), moral judgments (e.g., sexual accountability and morality), and reactions to sensitive social issues (e.g., rape, AIDS, and homosexuality). By breaking down the construct into numerous subscales, the SSDS is able to provide a nuanced and comprehensive profile of an individual’s comfort and frequency of communication regarding sex, moving beyond simple frequency counts.

Validity

Validation efforts, as detailed in the original research by Snell and colleagues (1989), confirm the scale’s fundamental construct validity. This was established through rigorous factor analysis, which successfully delineated the distinct and stable subscale structures for both the 60-item and 72-item versions of the instrument. The comprehensive nature of the items ensures high content validity, covering key behavioral, affective, and attitudinal domains identified as central to sexuality research.

Furthermore, the intentional differential focus of the two scales—one targeting the intimate partner and the other targeting non-partner confidantes—demonstrates strong criterion validity for measuring relationship-specific communication dynamics. The SSDS has been widely incorporated into subsequent academic studies concerning relational health and sexual sexual behaviors, lending further empirical support to its external validity in measuring crucial sexual communication patterns.

Reliability

Although the source content does not explicitly list specific Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for every subscale, the systematic development and validation procedures imply that internal consistency was a priority during the scale’s creation. The clear and consistent grouping of items into specific subscales (e.g., measuring sexual guilt or sexual anxiety) suggests that the items within each factor are highly intercorrelated, indicating acceptable internal reliability for the measurement of these specific facets of sexual self-disclosure. Researchers utilizing the SSDS are typically expected to report reliability metrics specific to their study population.

Factor Analysis

The initial psychometric development of the SSDS relied heavily on factor analysis to empirically delineate the underlying structure of sexual self-disclosure. This analysis resulted in two distinct structures corresponding to the two main instrument versions:

• Scale #1 (The Revised Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale, 72 items): This version, designed for disclosure to an intimate relationship partner, yields 24 specific factors, with each factor typically comprising three items. These factors cover an extensive range of behavioral and emotional landscapes, including specific sexual behaviors, sexual fantasies, sexual preferences, the meaning of sex, sexual accountability, and various sexual affects such as satisfaction, guilt, anger, anxiety, and fear.

• Scale #2 (The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale, 60 items): This original version is structured around 12 broader factors, each containing five items. These factors are designed to assess disclosure across multiple target individuals (mother, father, best male friend, best female friend) simultaneously. Key factors include Sexual Behavior, Sexual Sensations, Sexual Fantasies, Sexual Attitudes, Meaning of Sex, Negative Sexual Affect, Positive Sexual Affect, Sexual Concerns, Birth Control, Sexual Responsibility, Sexual Dishonesty, and Rape.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale

Format: Multi-item questionnaire utilizing a 5-point Likert-type response format.

Language Available: English (Original development)

Population Group: General population, primarily used in research involving adolescents and adults engaged in intimate relationship dynamics.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults.

Population Details: The scale is frequently employed in studies involving couples, college students, and clinical samples to assess communication patterns regarding sexual behaviors and attitudes.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate the extent to which they have discussed each sensitive topic. Scale 1 uses a rating scale from (1) “I HAVE NOT DISCUSSED THIS TOPIC WITH AN INTIMATE PARTNER” to (5) “I HAVE FULLY DISCUSSED THIS TOPIC WITH AN INTIMATE PARTNER.” Scale 2 applies this rating methodology across four specific target individuals: Mother, Father, Best Male Friend, and Best Female Friend.

Keywords

Self-Disclosure, sexual communication, psychometric instrument, W. E. Snell, sexual affect, sexual accountability, relationship communication, factor structure, sexual fantasies

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Not explicitly provided, but correspondence is associated with Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale was developed and validated primarily during the late 1980s (1987–1989). Specific information regarding commercial fees or current licensing permissions is not detailed in the source content. However, the instrument’s established availability online suggests that it is generally used freely for non-commercial academic research purposes, provided that the original authors are cited appropriately in publications.

The instrument can be found online for academic review at the following URLs: http://www4.semo.edu/snell/scales/SSDS.htm and http://www4.semo.edu/snell/TESTING.HTM.

Reference’s

• Snell, W. E., Jr. (in press). The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale. In C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber, and S. L. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures. Newbury Park: Sage.
• Snell, W. E., Jr., Belk, S. S., Papini, D. R., & Clark, S. (1989). Development and validation of the Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale. Annals of Sex Research, 2, 307-334.
• Papini, D. R., Clark, S. M., & Snell, W. E., Jr. (1988). An evaluation of adolescent patterns of sexual self- disclosure to parents and friends. Journal of Adolescent Research, 3, 387-401.
• Snell, W. E., Jr., & Belk, S. S. (1987, April). Development of the Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale (SSDS): Sexual disclosure to female and male therapists. Paper presented at the 33rd annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA.

Items of the The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale (SSDS)

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

Scale # 1 (The Revised Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale)

1. My past sexual experiences.
2. The kinds of touching that sexually arouse me.
3. My private sexual fantasies.
4. The sexual preferences that I have.
5. The types of sexual behaviors I have engaged in.
6. The sensations that are sexually exciting to me.
7. My “juicy” sexual thoughts.
8. What I would desire in a sexual encounter.
9. The sexual positions I have tried.
10. The types of sexual foreplay that feel arousing to me.
11. The sexual episodes that I daydream about.
12. The things I enjoy most about sex.
13. What sex in an intimate relationship means to me.
14. My private beliefs about sexual responsibility.
15. Times when sex was distressing for me.
16. The times I have pretended to enjoy sex.
17. Times when I prefer to refrain from sexual activity.
18. What it means to me to have sex with my partner.
19. My own ideas about sexual accountability.
20. Times when I was pressured to have sex.
21. The times I have lied about sexual matters.
22. The times when I might not want to have sex.
23. What I think and feel about ha‎ving sex with my partner.
24. The notion that one is accountable for one’s sexual behaviors.
25. The aspects of sex that bother me.
26. How I would feel about sexual dishonesty.
27. My ideas about not ha‎ving sex unless I want to.
28. How I feel about abortions.
29. My personal views about homosexuals.
30. My own ideas about why rapes occur.
31. My personal views about people with AIDS.
32. What I consider “proper” sexual behavior.
33. My beliefs about pregnancy prevention.
34. Opinions I have about homosexual relationships.
35. What I really feel about rape.
36. Concerns that I have about the disease AIDS.
37. The sexual behaviors that I consider appropriate.
38. How I feel about pregnancy at this time.
39. My reactions to working with a homosexual.
40. My reactions to rape.
41. My feelings about working with someone who has AIDS.
42. My personal beliefs about sexual morality.
43. How satisfied I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
44. How guilty I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
45. How calm I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
46. How depressed I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
47. How jealous I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
48. How apathetic I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
49. How anxious I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
50. How happy I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
51. How angry I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
52. How afraid I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
53. How pleased I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
54. How shameful I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
55. How serene I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
56. How sad I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
57. How possessive I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
58. How indifferent I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
59. How troubled I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
60. How cheerful I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
61. How mad I feel about the sexual aspect of my life.
62. How fearful I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
63. How delighted I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
64. How embarrassed I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
65. How relaxed I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
66. How unhappy I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
67. How suspicious I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
68. How detached I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
69. How worried I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
70. How joyful I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
71. How irritated I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
72. How frightened I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.

Scale # 2 (The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale)

INSTRUCTIONS: This survey is concerned with the extent to which you have discussed the following 60 topics about sexuality with several different people. Listed below you will notice four columns which represent the following individuals: (A) your mother, (B) your father, (C) your best male friend, and (D) your best female friend. For each of these people, indicate how much you have discussed these topics with them.

1. My past sexual experiences.
2. The things that sexually arouse me.
3. My imaginary sexual encounters.
4. The sexual behaviors which I think people ought to exhibit.
5. What sex means to me.
6. How guilty I feel about sex.
7. How satisfied I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
8. Times when sex was distressing for me.
9. What I think about birth control.
10. My private notion of sexual responsibility.
11. The times I have faked orgasm.
12. My private views about rape.
13. The types of sexual behaviors I’ve engaged in.
14. The sexual activities that “feel good” to me.
15. my private sexual fantasies.
16. What I consider “proper” sexual behaviors.
17. What it means to me to make love together with someone.
18. How anxious I feel about my sex life.
19. How content I feel about the sexual aspects of my life.
20. Times when I had undesired sex.
21. How I feel about abortions.
22. The responsibility one ought to assume for one’s sexuality.
23. The times I have pretended to enjoy sex.
24. The “truths and falsehoods” about rape.
25. The number of times I have had sex.
26. The behaviors that are sexually exciting to me.
27. My sexually exciting imaginary thoughts.
28. The sexual conduct that people ought to exhibit.
29. What I think and feel about ha‎ving sex with someone.
30. How depressed I feel about my own sexuality.
31. How happy I feel about my sexuality.
32. Times when I was pressured to have sex.
33. How I feel about pregnancy.
34. My own ideas about sexual accountability.
35. The times I have lied about sexual matters.
36. What women and men really feel about rape.
37. The sexual positions I’ve tried.
38. The sensations that are sexually arousing to me.
39. My “juicy” sexual thoughts.
40. My attitudes about sexual behaviors.
41. The meaning that sexual intercourse has for me.
42. How frustrated I feel about my sex life.
43. How much joy that sex gives me.
44. The aspects of sex that bother me.
45. My private beliefs about pregnancy prevention.
46. The idea of ha‎ving to answer for one’s sexual conduct.
47. What I think about sexual disloyalty.
48. Women’s and men’s reactions to rape.
49. The places and times-of-day when I’ve had sex.
50. The types of sexual foreplay that feel arousing to me.
51. The sexual episodes that I daydream about.
52. My personal beliefs about sexual morality.
53. The importance that I attach to making love with someone.
54. How angry I feel about the sexual aspect of my life.
55. How enjoyable I feel about my sexuality.
56. Times when I wanted to leave a sexual encounter.
57. The pregnancy precautions that people ought to take.
58. The notion one is answerable for one’s sexual behaviors.
59. How I feel about sexual honesty.
60. Women’s and men’s reactions to rape.