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The Schizotypal Ambivalence Scale (SAS) is a 19-item revision of the Intense Ambivalence Scale, which was designed to identify ambivalence described by Meehl as characteristic of schizotypy and schizophrenia. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the SAS in a sample of 997 college students. The study also provided preliminary evidence regarding the concurrent validity of the measure for identifying schizophreniclike symptoms and other forms of psychopathology in a sample of 131 students. The SAS has good internal consistency reliability (.84) and correlates moderately with other psychometric indices of schizotypy. High SAS scores were associated with schizotypal, schizoid, and paranoid symptoms, and with poorer overall functioning (after the removal of variance associated with other schizotypy scales), but were not associated with major depressive disorder or ratings of substance use and abuse.

The relationship between dissociative experiences and psychosis proneness was investigated in a sample of 523 college undergraduates. Participants were administered the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), the Perceptual Aberration Scale, the Magical Ideation Scale, the Social Anhedonia Scale, and the Physical Anhedonia Scale. As hypothesized, the Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation Scales were positively correlated with the DES. The Social Anhedonia Scale had a modest correlation with the DES, but this relationship was largely mediated by the Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation Scales. The Physical Anhedonia Scale was uncorrelated with the DES. Exploratory factor analysis of the psychosis-proneness scales and the DES subscales resulted in a three-factor solution: dissociative experiences, positive schizotypy, and negative schizotypy. The DES depersonalization subscale loaded on both the dissociation and positive schizotypy factors.

The predictive validity of the Intense Ambivalence Scale was examined in a 10-year longitudinal study of 362 psychometrically identified psychosis-prone and control participants. Elevated scores on the Intense Ambivalence Scale predicted psychotic-like and depressive symptoms, and the development of psychotic illnesses at the 10-year follow-up assessment (after the removal of variance for membership in the psychosis-prone and control groups). Elevated scores on the scale were also associated with substance abuse, schizotypal symptoms, and impaired functioning at both the initial and follow-up assessments. The Intense Ambivalence Scale did not differentially enhance the predictive power of the Perceptual Aberration or the Magical Ideation Scales.