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.
Health Sciences Program, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
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Swan
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Carmelli
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Dame
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Rosenman
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Spielberger
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