When I don't Like Myself: Portuguese Version of the Internalized Shame Scale

Abstract

In the past two decades, there has been a growing theoretical and empirical interest on the role of shame, namely internal shame, on the conceptualization of human functioning and several interpersonal and emotional problems. The current study explores the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Internalized Shame Scale (ISS), a self-report measure which assesses trait shame, composed by an Internal Shame subscale, measuring internalized shame, and a Self-Esteem subscale. The factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability and convergent and discriminant validity for both subscales, are presented, in a sample of 385 college students. The Principal Components Analyses reveal that both Internal Shame and Self-Esteem subscales present a one-dimensional structure which explains, respectively, 48.54% and 57.7% of the variance. The subscales present high internal consistency, with high Cronbach" alphas (.95 e .85) and moderate to high item-total correlations. The two subscales present an excellent temporal stability. Convergent and discriminant validity of the subscales was corroborated through the moderate correlations with a measure of shame and of social comparison, and through the low and moderate correlations with the subscales Depression, Anxiety, and Stress.The Portuguese version of the ISS is a valid and reliable instrument to measure internalized shame. Keywords: Internal shame; ISS; Psychometric properties; Psychopathology 5 ResumoTem-se assistido a um crescente interesse teórico e empírico acerca do papel da vergonha, nomeadamente da vergonha interna, na conceptualização do funcionamento humano e de vários problemas emocionais e interpessoais. Este estudo explora as propriedades psicométricas da versão portuguesa da Internalized Shame Scale (ISS) IntroduçãoShame is an emotion distinctive of human species, which has been linked to the internal experience of the self as an unattractive, undesirable, worthless, defective or powerless social agent (Gilbert, 2007;Lewis, 1992;Tangney & Dearing, 2002;Tracy & Robins, 2004). This selfconscious emotion plays a crucial role in identity formation and emerges as a defensive affect related to social status maintenance, prevention of group rejection and negotiation of complex social structures (Gilbert, , 2007Tangney & Fischer, 1995). This affect of inferiority, as defined by Kaufman (1989), is associated with negative self-evaluations of inadequacy and defect and with the exposure of these negative attributes and loss of status in the eyes of the others (Lewis, 1992(Lewis, , 2000Gilbert, , 2007Tangney & Dearing, 2002;Tracy & Robins, 2004). The emotion of shame arises within early interactions with significant others, influencing human functioning at individual, interpersonal, group and cultural levels (Gilbert, & Andrews, 1998;Tangney & Dearing, 2002).In the last two decades there has been an increasing empirical support to the importance of shame at conceptual and clinical levels, in a wide range of psychopathological sympt...

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