The Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness Scale--I. Internal structure and stability.
In a 10-year prospective study, Grossarth-Maticek and colleagues reported that the tendency to repress and/or deny emotions was strongly predictive of cancer mortality. The method used to assess repression/denial was modified recently by Spielberger to form the Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) Scale. The present study investigates the psychometric properties of the R/ED Scale in 1236 male (mean age = 71.8 yr) and 863 female (mean age = 68.5 yr) participants in a 27-year follow-up of the Western Collaborative Group Study. Analyses revealed high interitem consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77 and 0.78 for men and women, respectively) and two independent and stable factors that we labeled 'Anti-emotionality' (27% of total variance) and 'Rationality' (21% of total variance). Excluding cancer subjects, significant gender differences were observed for individual items, total R/ED score, and the two subscales. Comparisons of the 159 male cancer patients and the 175 female cancer patients with the corresponding noncancer subjects suggest possible gender x cancer status and age x cancer status interactions. These results challenge Grossarth-Maticek's assertion that rationality/anti-emotionality is a unidimensional construct and indicate the need to take into account the effect of age and gender on the presence of these psychological constructs.
Swan
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GE
Health Sciences Program, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Carmelli
D
D
Dame
A
A
Rosenman
R H
RH
Spielberger
C D
CD
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D012095:Repression-Sensitization; D015996:Survival Rate; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology