Self-diagnosticity

What it measures

The scale measures self-diagnosticity — how much a person believes their behavior reveals something meaningful about who they are — a construct used across several independent research programs.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• What I do says a lot about who I am.
• The choices I make reflect my inner goals and values.
• My actions are an indication of my personality.
• My choices tell me a great deal about what I like.
• There is a strong link between my actions and my personality.
• What I do is a reflection of who I am.
• My actions are very telling of my character.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Originally developed by Touré-Tillery and Light; subsequently used by both Savary and Dhar (2020) and Touré-Tillery and Kouchaki (2021) across several studies each, with excellent and consistent reliability (α = .97). Neither set of using-authors discussed the scale's validity directly.

Citation

Savary, J., & Dhar, R. (2020). The Uncertain Self: How Self-Concept Structure Affects Subscription Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(5), 887–903.

Keywords