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Sources of Social Support Scale (SSSS)

This scale is part of the body of research on the effects of a multi-modal cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention on the psychosocial well-being of breast cancer patients. In the course of this work, several questions have arisen about social support. One question is whether different sources of support matter in different ways (e.g., partner, friends, health care providers). Another question is how different aspects of support differ. Indeed, there is a developing literature suggesting that negative support is more impactful than positive support. Neither of these questions...

Author of Tool: 
Carver, C. S.

behavioral avoidance/inhibition (BIS/BAS) scales

Several theorists have argued that two general motivational systems underlie behavior. A behavioral approach system (BAS) is believed to regulate appetitive motives, in which the goal is to move toward something desired. A behavioral avoidance (or inhibition) system (BIS) is said to regulate aversive motives, in which the goal is to move away from something unpleasant. We developed the BIS/BAS scales to assess individual differences in the sensitivity of these systems. The BIS/BAS scales are available for research and teaching applications.

Author of Tool: 
Carver, C. S., & White, T. L.

Measure of Attachment Qualities (MAQ)

The Measure of Attachment Qualities (MAQ) is a measure of adult attachment patterns. It has separate scales to assess secure attachment tendencies and avoidant tendencies, and two scales reflecting aspects of the anxious-ambivalent pattern. This measure is based on four studies. Three studies relate self-reports of adult attachment qualities to broader aspects of personality. The pattern emerging from the studies indicates that avoidant attachment is inversely related to extraversion and to agreeableness but is relatively unrelated to manifest anxiety or neuroticism. Qualities of...

Author of Tool: 
Carver, C. S.

Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (CEI)

In an effort to expand research on curiosity, the authors elaborate on a theoretical model that informs research on the design of a new measure and the nomological network of curiosity. Curiosity was conceptualized as a positive emotional-motivational system associated with the recognition, pursuit, and self-regulation of novelty and challenge. The authors posit that curiosity is an important motivational component (but not the only one) that links cues reflecting novelty and challenge (internal or external) with growth opportunities. The Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (CEI)...

Author of Tool: 
Kashdan, T.B., Rose, P., & Fincham, F.D.

The Day Reconstruction Method (DRC)

The Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) assesses how people spend their time and how they experience the various activities and settings of their lives, combining features of time-budget measurement and experience sampling. Participants systematically reconstruct their activities and experiences of the preceding day with procedures designed to reduce recall biases. The benefits of the DRM as outlined by the authors are: joint assessment of activities and subjective experiences, information about the duration of each experience, allowing for duration weighted analyses of experiences, lower...

Author of Tool: 
Kahneman, D., Kreuger, A. B., & Schkade, D. A.

The Multidimentional Model of Black Identity (MMBI)

The Multidimentional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) defines racial identity as that part of the person's self-concept that is related to her/his membership within a race. It is concerned with both the significance the individual places on race in defining him/herself and the individual's interpretations of what it means to be Black. The MMRI proposes four dimensions of racial identity in African Americans: the salience of identity; the centrality of the identity; the ideology associated with the identity; and the regard in which the person holds African Americans. The first two...

Author of Tool: 
Sellers, R.

Aspects of Identity Questionnaire (AIQ-IV)

Identity orientations refer to the relative importance that individuals place on various identity attributes or characteristics when constructing their self-definitions (Cheek, 1989). The development of the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire (AIQ) began with the selection of items from Sampson's (1978) list of identity characteristics that were judged to represent the domains of personal and social identity (Cheek & Briggs, 1981, 1982). Subsequently, some items were reworded, others eliminated, and new items were developed to improve the reliability and content validity of the...

Author of Tool: 
Cheek, J. M. & Briggs, S. R.

Derogation of Competitors Instrument

The purpose of the derogation of competitors instrument is to measure for the likelihood of persons to form derogation tactics for competitor. Verbal signals are sometimes used to manipulate the impressions that people form about oneself and others. For the goal of self-enhancement, one can manipulate impressions either by elevating oneself or derogating others. Five hypothesis about derogation of same sex competitors were generated from an evolutionary model of human-mate competition. These hypothesis focused on sex-differences in the importance that humans attach to external resources,...

Author of Tool: 
Buss, D.

Mate Attraction Tactics

Darwin's theory of sexual selection suggests that individuals compete with members of their own sex for reproductively relevant resources held by members of the opposite sex. The premise behind the creation of the mate attraction tactics instrument was the fact that despite its centrality to evolutionary theory, little systematic empirical work had been conducted on the ways in which humans compete for reproductively relevant resources. Tactics of Mate Attraction assesses self-reported tactics of mate attraction. This instrument is concerned with the things that you did when you first...

Author of Tool: 
Buss, D.

Mate Preferences Questionnaire

Mate preferences acquire importance in at least three scientific contexts. One of these is that they can affect the current direction of sexual selection by influencing who is differentially excluded from and who is included in mating. Favored mate characteristics that show some heritability will typically be represented more frequently in subsequent generations. Because of the powerful reproductive consequences of preferential mating, it is reasonable to assume that mate preferences will depart from randomness and evolve through sexual selection. The Mate Selection Questionnaire requires...

Author of Tool: 
Buss, D.

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