Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The present study was designed to further investigate the factor structure of the SACL by controlling for asymmetry of the response scale. Also of interest was the status of the two adjectives, "passive" and "aroused," which did not load significantly in the King et al. (1983), and Fischer and Donatelli (in press) studies. Should they be part of the scale or not? Subjects were 378 males (44%) and female (56%) undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology at a mid-western Canadian university. Results showed that, although the response format utilized was symmetrical, it had little effect on the factor structure of the SACL. For practical purposes, either two bipolar, or one bipolar and two monopolar factors can legitimately represent the stress-arousal domain. Both two and three factors are replicable, easy to calculate and analyze, and have high internal reliability. The adjective "arousal" loaded significantly in both the 2- and 3-factor solutions suggesting that it should remain as part of the SACL; "passive" on the other hand, loaded in neither case suggesting that it should be discarded.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Comrey, A. L. (1973). A first course in factor analysis. New York: Academic Press.

Cox, T. and McKay, C. (1985). The measurement of self-reported stress and arousal. British Journal of Psychology, 76, 183-186.

Crowne, D. P. and Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: studies in evaluative dependence. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Fischer, D. G. and Donatelli, M. J. (in press). A measure of stress and arousal: Factor structure of the stress adjective checklist. EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT.

King, M. G. , Burrows, G. D. , and Stanley, G. V. (1982). Measurement of stress and arousal: Validation of stress/arousal adjectives checklist. British Journal of Psychology, 74, 473-479.

MacKay, C. , Cox, T. , Burrows, G. , and Lazzerini, T. (1978). An inventory for the measurement of self-reported stress and arousal. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 17, 283-284.

Nowlis, V. (1965). Research with the mood adjective checklist. In S. S. Tomkins & C. E. Izard (Eds.), Affect: Measurement of awareness. New York: Springer.

SPSSx Inc. (1986). Users guide, 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Thayer, R. E. (1967). Measurement of activation through self report. Psychological Reports, 20, 663-668.

10.

Watts, C. , Cox, T. , and Robson, J. (1983). Morningness-eveningness and diurnal variations in self-reported mood. Journal of Psychology, 113, 251-256.

Factor Structure of the Stress Adjective Checklist: Replicated

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References