Revisiting the fundamental fears: Towards establishing construct independence

Reiss (1991) described three “fundamental” fears-anxiety sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, and injury/illness sensitivity-as distinct individual differences underlying fearful reactions. Taylor (1993) evidenced the distinctions, but the results have not been replicated despite developments in theory and measures. Intolerance of uncertainty and pain-related anxiety have since been posited as similarly important, but not established as distinct. The present investigation assessed for the distinctions (1) utilizing contemporary measures; (2) included intolerance of uncertainty and pain-related anxiety; and (3) employed a stringent process for assessing independence. Undergraduates and community members (n = 993; 71% women) randomly completed questionnaires assessing the constructs, with a “standard” format (i.e., each construct assessed as a grouped set of items) or a “random” format (i.e., items from all constructs randomly interspersed). The undergraduates (n = 254; 76% women) also provided data for two-week test-retest reliability. Factor analyses and test-retest reliability supported construct independence and stability across presentation formats. Comprehensive results, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.