Social Devaluation of Joining the Group (Anticipated)

What it measures

The scale assesses anticipated embarrassment about joining a group whose members might discover a stigmatized personal attribute, relevant to research on stigma and group belonging.

Response format

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

Scale items

• Thinking about what it would be like to join this group, I feel that I will be negatively judged.
• If I joined this group, I would feel embarrassed about my ___.
• If I joined this group, I would be humiliated by my ___.
• If I joined this group, I would feel distressed about my ___.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Harmeling et al. (2021) cited Blair and Roese (2013) as inspiration, though the two scales have little in common, suggesting Harmeling et al. likely created their own items drawing loosely on that earlier work; used with MTurk participants. Reliability was strong (α = .91). CFA supported good model fit (AVE = .73) with evidence of discriminant validity relative to other constructs in the same study. Item wording requires naming the stigmatized attribute in question — the original study used 'weight.' A companion measure, Social Empowerment Within the Group (Anticipated), comes from the same study.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Harmeling, Colleen M., Martin Mende, Maura L. Scott, and Robert W. Palmatier (2021), "Marketing, Through the Eyes of the Stigmatized," Journal of Marketing Research, 58 (2), 223–245.

Keywords

More Social & Cultural Psychology scales

• Social Empowerment Within the Group (Anticipated)2021 · 3 items
• Collective Self-Esteem Scale1992 · 16 items
• Resources Needed to Join the Group (Non-monetary)2021 · 4 items
• Group Membership Identification2004 · 3 items
• Similarity to Other People2021 · 3 items
• Similarity to Another Person2020 · 4 items