Sexuality Scale (SS)

1. Abstract

The Sexuality Scale (SS) is a landmark 30-item self-report psychometric instrument designed to evaluate three core psychological dimensions of human sexuality: sexual-esteem, sexual-depression, and sexual-preoccupation. Developed originally by William E. Snell, Jr. and Dennis R. Papini (1989), and subsequently validated across diverse developmental and clinical cohorts by Snell, Fisher, and Schuh (1992), the scale operationalized affective and cognitive orientations toward one’s personal sexuality. Prior to its introduction, human sexuality research predominantly concentrated on physiological functioning, sexual behaviors, or generalized sexual satisfaction, frequently overlooking subjective appraisals of personal sexual competence, affective distress, and obsessive cognitive immersion. The SS addresses this critical psychometric void by providing three balanced, 10-item subscales scored on a 5-point Likert continuum ranging from 0 (Agree) to 4 (Disagree), traditionally reverse-coded during scoring to ensure higher values correspond to greater levels of each respective construct.

Extensive psychometric investigations have established robust empirical support for the Sexuality Scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses consistently substantiate its triadic orthogonal-to-oblique dimensional structure, demonstrating distinct factor loadings exceeding acceptable psychometric thresholds. Reliability appraisals demonstrate high internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients typically ranging from .85 to .93 across the three subscales, paired with substantial test-retest reliability over multiple-week intervals. Construct, convergent, and discriminant validities are evidenced by predictable associations with global self-esteem, clinical depression, erotophobia-erotophilia, hypersexuality, relationship adjustment, and sexual risk-taking behaviors. Today, the Sexuality Scale remains one of the most widely cited foundational instruments in sexology, clinical psychology, behavioral medicine, and relationship counseling, providing clinicians and empirical researchers with a nuanced framework for understanding subjective sexual well-being.

2. Keywords

Sexuality Scale, Sexual-Esteem, Sexual-Depression, Sexual-Preoccupation, Psychometrics, Human Sexuality, Sexual Self-Concept, Snell and Papini, Sexual Health Assessment, Factor Analysis

3. Authors

The primary architects and psychometric investigators behind the conception, operationalization, and empirical validation of the Sexuality Scale (SS) include:

• William E. Snell, Jr., Ph.D.: Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA). Dr. Snell was a prolific psychometrician and social psychologist specializing in human sexuality, health psychology, and interpersonal communication. He pioneered several foundational inventories, including the Sexuality Scale, the Multidimensional Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ), and the Sexual Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ). Correspondence historically directed to the Department of Psychology, Southeast Missouri State University.
• Dennis R. Papini, Ph.D.: Professor and academic leader who served in major developmental psychology and human development faculties, including Southeast Missouri State University, the University of Arkansas, and Middle Tennessee State University. Dr. Papini's research centers on adolescent development, parent-adolescent relationships, and socio-emotional transitions during emerging adulthood.
• Terri D. Fisher, Ph.D.: Professor Emeritus of Psychology at The Ohio State University (Mansfield campus). An internationally recognized expert on gender differences in sexuality, sexual attitudes, and psychosexual methodology, Dr. Fisher contributed substantially to the 1992 psychometric re-evaluation and external validation of the instrument.
• Toni Schuh, B.S. / M.A.: Research affiliate and collaborator at Southeast Missouri State University who co-authored the extensive 1992 cross-validation studies analyzing the temporal stability and concurrent validity of the scale.

4. Purpose

The primary clinical and empirical objective of the Sexuality Scale (SS) is to assess individuals' subjective cognitive appraisals and affective reactions toward their sexual lives. Historically, psychosexual assessment instruments were predominantly designed to capture overt sexual dysfunctions (e.g., erectile disorder, dyspareunia, orgasmic delay), frequencies of specific sexual behaviors, or broad demographic characteristics of sexual history. Alternatively, general psychological instruments quantified overall self-worth or major depressive episodes without recognizing the domain-specific nature of sexual self-schemas. Snell and Papini (1989) posited that general self-esteem and general depression do not capture how individuals evaluate their sexual competence, nor do they capture the profound emotional devastation that can stem directly from distress in one's sex life.

Consequently, the SS was engineered to serve several theoretical and pragmatic functions:

• Granular Assessment of Sexual Self-Concept: The tool deconstructs sexual self-evaluation into three discrete yet interrelated constructs: positive evaluation of sexual skill and worth (sexual-esteem), emotional dejection and disappointment regarding sexual functioning (sexual-depression), and intrusive or excessive cognitive focus on sex (sexual-preoccupation).
• Clinical Diagnostic Differentiation: In therapeutic and sexological contexts, the SS allows practitioners to distinguish between clients who experience sexual performance anxiety coupled with feelings of worthlessness (low sexual-esteem, elevated sexual-depression) versus individuals grappling with hyperactive sexual desire, behavioral impulsivity, or compulsive sexual thoughts (elevated sexual-preoccupation).
• Epidemiological and Behavioral Health Research: Public health researchers utilize the SS to explore associations between sexual self-perceptions and high-risk health behaviors, such as unprotected intercourse, non-disclosure of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and reluctance to seek sexual health interventions. Individuals with low sexual-esteem or elevated sexual-depression frequently demonstrate compromised self-advocacy and impaired sexual communication.
• Relationship and Couples Counseling: Dyadic researchers use the scale to evaluate how asymmetries in sexual-esteem or disparities in sexual-preoccupation impact intimacy, marital longevity, sexual satisfaction, and conflict escalation between partners.

5. Psychological Construct

The conceptual framework of the Sexuality Scale rests upon domain-specific cognitive-affective schemas. As articulated by cognitive theorists and social psychologists, individuals maintain internal working models of the self that are partitioned into distinct experiential realms. The Sexuality Scale operationalizes three specific psychosexual dimensions:

Sexual-Esteem

Sexual-esteem is defined as a generalized positive regard for and value placed upon one's own sexual thoughts, behaviors, and competence as a sexual partner. It reflects an individual's subjective confidence in their sexual skill, personal appeal, and capacity to experience and bestow sexual pleasure. Individuals scoring high in sexual-esteem view themselves as proficient, desirable, and efficacious lovers (e.g., endorsed through items such as “I am a good sexual partner” and “I would rate my sexual skill quite highly”). They do not succumb easily to acute performance anxiety and harbor resilient attitudes toward transient sexual challenges. Conversely, individuals exhibiting diminished sexual-esteem internalize chronic feelings of sexual ineptitude, inadequacy, and vulnerability (e.g., “I am not very confident about my sexual skill”), which frequently undermines their agency in romantic and intimate encounters.

Sexual-Depression

Sexual-depression represents an affective state characterized by persistent disappointment, sadness, dejection, and hopelessness specifically anchored in one's sex life and sexual relationships. Paralleling the Beckian triad of cognitive depression, sexual-depression manifests when an individual perceives their sexual reality as fundamentally flawed, unfulfilling, or irredeemable. High scorers report sadness when reflecting on their sexual history and feel downhearted regarding their current sexual trajectory (captured by items such as “I am depressed about the sexual aspects of my life” and “I feel sad when I think about my sexual experiences”). Importantly, empirical findings verify that sexual-depression can occur independently of major clinical depression: an individual may function with professional vitality and personal optimism while simultaneously harboring deep despair regarding their sexual existence.

Sexual-Preoccupation

Sexual-preoccupation is characterized by a persistent, obsessive, and all-consuming cognitive focus on sexual thoughts, fantasies, and impulses. Individuals with high levels of sexual-preoccupation find that sex commands an inordinate share of their daily mental real estate, often crowding out non-sexual obligations, interpersonal attentiveness, and intellectual pursuits (manifested in items such as “I think about sex all the time” and “I tend to be preoccupied with sex”). While sexual-preoccupation can coexist with healthy erotophilic curiosity, elevated levels often correlate with compulsive sexual behaviors, hypersexuality, and difficulty regulating attention in non-erotic settings. At the opposite end, individuals with deficient sexual-preoccupation rarely daydream or contemplate sexual scenarios (e.g., “I don't daydream about sexual situations” and “I don't think about sex very often”), which may signify low sexual desire or an asexual orientation.

6. Theoretical Framework

The formulation of the Sexuality Scale is historically and theoretically grounded in cognitive appraisal theory, social learning theory, and domain-specific self-concept paradigms popularized throughout the late 20th century. Snell and colleagues synthesized insights from Albert Bandura's self-efficacy theory with Aaron T. Beck's cognitive therapy model of depression, transposing these frameworks directly into human sexology.

Domain-Specific Self-Concept vs. Global Self-Esteem

For decades, social psychology relied heavily on unidimensional instruments such as the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale to predict life outcomes. However, scholars like Susan Harter and Herbert W. Marsh demonstrated that global self-esteem is an aggregation of multiple autonomous domains (e.g., athletic, academic, social, physical). Snell and Papini (1989) argued that sexuality represents one of the most psychologically charged, identity-defining domains in the adult personality. Therefore, treating sexual self-appraisals as mere downstream byproducts of global self-worth failed to capture the nuances of sexual dysfunction. Individuals with stellar academic, professional, or social self-esteem can simultaneously experience crippling sexual inadequacy.

Cognitive Triad of Sexual Distress

Beck's cognitive theory posits that affective states are mediated through cognitive schemas comprising automated interpretations of the self, the immediate world, and the future. In adapting this framework, the Sexuality Scale presumes that sexual-depression is maintained through negative automatic thoughts concerning one's sexual desirability and relational viability. Similarly, sexual-preoccupation reflects attentional bias and hypervigilance toward erotic stimuli, mirroring cognitive models of behavioral addiction and obsessive-compulsive schema activation. By evaluating these three dimensions simultaneously, the SS operationalizes the internal balance between motivational-evaluative assets (sexual-esteem), emotional liabilities (sexual-depression), and cognitive-attentional focus (sexual-preoccupation).

7. Validity

Empirical evaluations across the published literature provide robust evidence regarding the construct, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validities of the Sexuality Scale.

Convergent Validity

In the seminal psychometric re-evaluation conducted by Snell, Fisher, and Schuh (1992), convergent validity was rigorously evaluated by correlating the three SS subscales with established measures of personality, sexuality, and affect:

• Sexual-Esteem: Demonstrated substantial positive correlations with general self-esteem, body satisfaction, and positive sexual affect. Furthermore, sexual-esteem was positively linked to the Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS; erotophilia), indicating that individuals who evaluate their sexual abilities favorably maintain tolerant, positive orientations toward sexuality in general.
• Sexual-Depression: Correlated significantly and positively with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. However, the correlation with general depression hovered moderately around .35 to .45, confirming that while general depressive affect intersects with sexual dejection, the two constructs remain conceptually and empirically distinct.
• Sexual-Preoccupation: Exhibited strong positive correlations with measures of sexual drive, frequency of masturbation, hypersexual behavior inventories, and the sensation-seeking subscale of disinhibition.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity was established by examining the lack of strong associations with socially desirable responding and unrelated personality attributes. When administered alongside the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the three subscales revealed minimal, non-significant correlations (generally ranging between r = -.08 and .12), demonstrating that respondents' answers are not merely reflective of impression management or defensiveness. Additionally, while sexual-esteem and sexual-depression are negatively correlated (typically around r = -.40 to -.55), their shared variance indicates they are not polar opposites on a single continuum, but rather distinct cognitive-affective profiles.

Predictive and Criterion Validity

The SS has proven to be an effective predictor of behavioral health outcomes. Snell et al. (1992) demonstrated that individuals with low sexual-esteem and elevated sexual-depression reported greater difficulties initiating sexual communication, were more prone to stay in sexually unsatisfying partnerships, and avoided preventative healthcare consultations. Conversely, elevated sexual-preoccupation was predictive of a higher lifetime number of sexual partners, more frequent sexual risk-taking, and impulsive relational choices.

8. Reliability

The reliability of the Sexuality Scale has been documented across numerous studies employing collegiate, community, and clinical cohorts.

Internal Consistency

Internal consistency estimates (Cronbach's alpha) for the 10-item subscales demonstrate strong psychometric precision:

• Sexual-Esteem: Alpha coefficients consistently fall between .88 and .93 among both female and male cohorts, indicating high item homogeneity without excessive redundancy.
• Sexual-Depression: Alpha coefficients range between .85 and .91, establishing that the 10 items reliably measure the underlying construct of sexual dejection.
• Sexual-Preoccupation: Alpha coefficients range from .86 to .92 across clinical and non-clinical populations.

Test-Retest Stability

Temporal stability was evaluated by Snell, Fisher, and Schuh (1992) across a multi-week retest protocol (ranging from two to four weeks). Test-retest reliability coefficients yielded remarkable temporal stability:

• Sexual-Esteem: r = .80 to .85
• Sexual-Depression: r = .71 to .78
• Sexual-Preoccupation: r = .84 to .89

These coefficients demonstrate that while sexual self-appraisals are sensitive to major relational or clinical interventions, they reflect enduring dispositional tendencies over time.

9. Factor Analysis

The structural dimensionality of the Sexuality Scale was established through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) during its initial validation by Snell and Papini (1989) and subsequently corroborated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

Snell and Papini subjected the initial pool of candidate items to a principal components factor analysis followed by varimax orthogonal and oblimin oblique rotations. The scree test and eigenvalue criteria (> 1.0) unambiguously confirmed a clean three-factor solution, which collectively accounted for the majority of the total scale variance (approximately 52% to 58% across sample sets):

• Factor 1 (Sexual-Esteem): Primary loadings from items 1, 4, 5, 7, 10 (reversed), 13 (reversed), 16, 19 (reversed), 22, 25 (reversed), and 28 (reversed). Factor loadings for target items ranged from .54 to .81, with negligible cross-loadings on other factors.
• Factor 2 (Sexual-Depression): Primary loadings from items 2, 8, 11 (reversed), 14 (reversed), 17, 20, 23 (reversed), 26, and 29 (reversed). Factor loadings ranged from .50 to .83.
• Factor 3 (Sexual-Preoccupation): Primary loadings from items 3, 6, 9 (reversed), 12, 15, 18, 21 (reversed), 24 (reversed), 27 (reversed), and 30 (reversed). Factor loadings ranged from .58 to .84.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

Subsequent psychometric examinations using CFA confirmed the three-factor oblique model over alternative unidimensional and two-factor models. Across studies, the three-factor model yielded excellent goodness-of-fit indices: Comparative Fit Index (CFI) > .92, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) > .91, and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) < .06. Invariance testing further validated that the factor structure operates equivalently across gender lines, permitting meaningful cross-gender comparisons.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

• Instrument Name: Sexuality Scale (SS)
• Developer(s): William E. Snell, Jr., Ph.D., and Dennis R. Papini, Ph.D. (Southeast Missouri State University)
• Administration Format: Self-administered paper-and-pencil or computerized questionnaire
• Target Population: Adolescents and adults (typically ages 16 and older) across clinical, counseling, and non-clinical research settings
• Administration Time: Approximately 5 to 10 minutes
• Total Number of Items: 30 items
• Subscales / Dimensions:
  • Sexual-Esteem (10 items): Items 1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 (and item 28 in conceptual overlap; standardized operational scoring assigns 10 items to each factor)
  • Sexual-Depression (10 items): Items 2, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 28, 29
  • Sexual-Preoccupation (10 items): Items 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30
• Response Scale (Authentic Source Format): A 5-point Likert-type scale formatted as:
  • 0 = Agree
  • 1 = Slightly agree
  • 2 = Neither
  • 3 = Slightly disagree
  • 4 = Disagree
• Scoring and Transformation Rules: In the original publication scoring protocol, items are recoded so that higher scores represent higher levels of the respective construct. Negatively phrased items within each subscale are reverse-scored prior to summation. Subscale scores range from 0 to 40, or can be expressed as mean item averages ranging from 0.0 to 4.0.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Sexuality Scale (SS) was initially published in 1989 in The Journal of Sex Research. In accordance with Dr. William E. Snell, Jr.'s academic mission and open-science approach, the Sexuality Scale was placed in the public domain for non-commercial educational, empirical, and clinical research purposes.

Researchers, clinicians, and educators are permitted to utilize, administer, and reproduce the instrument without paying royalty fees, provided proper bibliographic attribution is accorded to Snell and Papini (1989) and Snell, Fisher, and Schuh (1992). The scale was also archived on Dr. Snell's Southeast Missouri State University institutional web directory and reprinted in standard psychometric reference compendia, including the Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures (Davis et al., Eds.). Commercial exploitation or packaging of the instrument into proprietary commercial software suites requires explicit clearance from the copyright holders and publishers.

12. References

• Davis, C. M., Yarber, W. L., Bauserman, R., Schreer, G., & Davis, S. L. (Eds.). (1998). Handbook of sexuality-related measures. Sage Publications.
• Snell, W. E., Jr., & Papini, D. R. (1989). The Sexuality Scale (SS): An instrument to measure sexual-esteem, sexual-depression, and sexual-preoccupation. The Journal of Sex Research, 26(2), 256–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224498909551510
• Snell, W. E., Jr., Fisher, T. D., & Schuh, T. (1992). Reliability and validity of the Sexuality Scale: A measure of sexual-esteem, sexual-depression, and sexual-preoccupation. The Journal of Sex Research, 29(2), 261–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499209551646
• Snell, W. E., Jr. (1998). The Sexuality Scale. In C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber, R. Bauserman, G. Schreer, & S. L. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures (pp. 518–520). Sage Publications.
• Wiederman, M. W., & Allgeier, E. R. (1993). The measurement of sexual-esteem: Investigation of Snell and Papini's (1989) Sexuality Scale. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 6(2), 83–102. https://doi.org/10.1300/J056v06n02_06

13. Items of the Scale