Reassessment of Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity of the Short Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale for the Japanese

Abstract

The Short Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (SFNE) for the Japanese assesses their fear of negative evaluation using a single-factor structure. However, a recent study suggested that this scale includes two factors: forward and reversed items. Therefore, this study examined the SFNE’s factor structure, reliability, and validity, using data collected from 500 adult participants recruited from an Internet survey and 82 undergraduate or vocational school students. Results of the exploratory factor analysis determined two factors: the first comprised eight forward items, and the second comprised four reversed items. Each subscale showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The forward-item factor showed better convergent and incremental validity than the reversed-item factor. These results indicated the forward-item factor was more precise than the reversed-item factor in assessing the fear of negative evaluation. The use of forward items is therefore recommended for the evaluation of FNE. We discuss the contributions to the assessment in these results and the limitations of the current study.