Sex differences are not attenuated by a sex-invariant measure of fear: The situated fear questionnaire. (July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Campbell, Anne; Coombes, Claire; David, Raluca; Opre, Adrian; Grayson, Lois; Muncer, Steven
• Is Part Of: Personality and individual differences. Volume 97(2016)
• Page Start: 210
• Page End: 219
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Subjects: Fear -- Anxiety -- Rasch -- Mokken -- Sex difference -- Sex invariance -- Fear survey schedule -- Avoidance; Personality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Personality Development -- Periodicals; Personnalité -- Périodiques; Individualité -- Périodiques; 155.205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.049
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0191-8869

Abstract

Abstract: Widely-used fear questionnaires may exaggerate sex differences because they do not ensure sex invariance of items and conflate anxiety with fear. Beginning with 50 descriptions of fear-eliciting situations, we used Rasch analysis to identify sex-invariant items and Mokken analysis to establish unidimensional scalability. The resulting 27-item Situated Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) correlated highly with the widely-used Fear Survey Schedule, while demonstrating better discrimination between anxiety and fear. Sex differences in three samples were all in excess of d = 1.00 and were not explained by gender role adherence or anxiety levels. The hedonic tone associated with fear situations (ranging from distressing/alarming to thrilling/exhilarating) was rated as more positive by men and this was only partially explained by their lower reported fear. Highlights: Items on existing fear inventories may misrepresent the magnitude of sex differences. Rasch and Mokken analyses were used to select sex-invariant scalable items. Across 3 samples, the sex differences ( d ) were all greater than unity. This was not attributable to gender role conformity or women's higher anxiety. Men found fear situations less distressing than women.