Development and Validation of a Situational Social Avoidance Scale

A 15-item self-report Situational Social Avoidance scale was developed and validated. Two samples of university students (total N = 407) provided data, evidencing high internal consistency (α=.89 for Sample 1, α = .92 for Sample 2) and test-retest reliability of .86 ( n = 65) over a 6.5-wk. interval. A factor-analysis yielded an interpretable 3-factor solution with three domains of social avoidance, (a) social performance, (b) socializing, and (c) self-assertion. Sample 2 showed a significant sex difference, with 138 women scoring higher, especially in the self-assertion and social performance domains. The scale had high positive correlations (from .60 to .78) with four frequently used social anxiety scales, and meaningful correlations with depression ( r = .36), self-esteem ( r = −.49), and self-critical cognition ( r = .50). Differential correlations were found between the scale's three factor-based subscales and the other social anxiety scales, suggesting different situational properties of the latter scales. Research implications and clinical use of the scale are discussed.