Construct validation of a state version of the Social Physique Anxiety Scale among young women

This study examined the validity of a state version of the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (Hart, Leary & Rejeski, 1989) by conducting tests of concurrent and discriminative validation. Participants were four separate samples of young women (N = 221) who exercised ≤2 days/week and who participated in various experiments examining body image and self-presentation. Participants’ scores on the state SPAS (S-SPAS) were significantly correlated, in expected directions, with scores on both trait and state measures of body image and self-presentation, and with body mass index (BMI). In addition, S-SPAS scores discriminated between women who exercised in a mixed-sex versus a same-sex environment, but trait SPAS scores did not. Together, these results provide evidence of construct validity of a state version of the SPAS and demonstrate that social physique anxiety can be conceptualized and measured as a situational variable. The S-SPAS, rather than the trait SPAS, should be employed in experiments designed to detect differences in state social physique anxiety.

Research highlights▶ State Social Physique Anxiety Scale (S-SPAS) scores were significantly correlated with scores on measures of body image, self-presentation, and body mass index (BMI). ▶ S-SPAS scores discriminated between women who exercised in a mixed-sex versus a same-sex environment. ▶ The trait SPAS was not responsive to differences in state social physique anxiety across the two environments.