PSYCHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE GUILT AND SHAME EXPERIENCE SCALE (GSES).

Objectives. Recent research has begun to pay attention to the experiences of guilt and shame in different realms of human life. However, there is an urgent need to develop valid instruments for measuring these emotional experiences. The main aims of this study are to introduce a newly developed tool, the Guilt and Shame Experience Scale (GSES), and to psychometrically evaluate its properties. Sample and settings. An online sample of Czech respondents aged 15 and over (N=1101; 34.4 ± 13.0 years; 26.9% men) participated in the survey. Experiences of guilt and shame (GSES), together with basic socio-economic information, were measured. Results. The non-parametric comparison of different socio-demographic groups showed a higher disposition for experiencing guilt among women and religious respondents and a lower disposition for experiencing both vindication and shame among middle-aged respondents. For the purpose of factor analysis, the data set was divided into two groups. One group (N=551) was used for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and the second (N=550) for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). On the basis of the EFA performed on a matrix of polychoric correlations and the subsequent CFA, two items were excluded. The eight-item version of the scale has good internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha 0.86 and McDonald's ωt 0.88. At the same time, the polychoric correlations between the items of the scale showed a low to moderate inter-item correlation, with values between 0.20 and 0.60. A two-factor model has the best fit with the data. The two-factor solution also corresponds to the theoretical assumptions and to the two expected subscales of the questionnaire: shame and guilt. Each subset contains four items. Study limitations. The main limitation of this study is that it did not reach a representative sample, allowing a more detailed exploration among socio-demographic groups, and therefore, it was not possible to determine the norms for the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]