Short version of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior: Slovak translation and psychometric analysis

Abstract

Assertiveness is a social communication skill and is related to the effectiveness of expressing oneself while respecting others. A lack of assertiveness is associated with various mental illnesses; hence the importance of being able to measure it reliably. The aim of the study was to translate the short version of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (s-SIB) into Slovak and subsequently test its factor structure and other psychometric properties. Our convenience sample consisted of 590 respondents from Slovakia, 22.71% of whom were men and 77.29% women. The data analysis consisted of a descriptive analysis, reliability analysis, factor structure analysis, Mokken analysis, and percentile norms. The scale showed good psychometric properties. Unlike the 4-factor solution for distress and performance in the original work, our findings showed that the general factor loadings were very good and that the bifactor model had the best fit in both cases (distress and performance). Mokken analysis indicated that the total scores for distress and perfromance and their constituent subscales can be used as proposed. In conclusion, the Slovak version of the s-SIB can be used as to measure the total score for assertiveness as well as the separate factors – Positive Assertion, Negative Assertion, Expression of and Dealing with Personal Limitations, and Initiating Assertiveness.

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“…A total of 25 items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale on two different measures – Distress (s-SIB), which is the discomfort participants feel in the situation described in the particular item (not at all, somewhat, rather, very, and extremely) and Performance (s-SIBF), which the is frequency of the described behaviour (I never do, I rarely do, I sometimes do, I usually do, I always do). Example scale items include: for Negative Assertions (NA for distress, FNA for performance) – “Refusing to lend something to a near acquittance,” for Expression and Dealing with Personal Limitations – “Asking someone to show you the way,” for Initiation Assertiveness (IA for distress, FIA for performance) – “Giving your opinion to a person in authority,” and for Positive Assertions (PA for distress, FPA for performance) – “Telling someone that you like him/her.” The s-SIB scales were translated and tested on the Slovak population ( Vráblová and Halamová, 2022 ). The results of the analysis showed good psychometric properties: Cronbach α coefficients for all subscales were – Positive Assertion (distress α = 0.93 and performance α = 0.94), Negative Assertion (distress α = 0.83 and performance α = 0.82), Initiating Assertiveness (distress α = 0.83 and performance α = 0.81), and Expression of and Dealing with Personal Limitations (distress α = 0.79 and performance α = 0.81).…”