The 10-Item Version Singelis’s Self-Construal Scale (SCS-Short Version) for Korean Adults: Psychometric Properties, Measurement Invariance with European Americans, and Associations with Social Anxiety

Self-construal, defined as the way by which individuals define themselves, is classified into two types: independent self-construal, emphasizing autonomy and uniqueness, and interdependent self-construal, emphasizing connections with others. Largely investigated in cross-cultural contexts, self-construal has been found to be associated with social anxiety symptoms. While Singelis’s original Self-Construal Scale (SCS) has been widely used to measure self-construal, extant literature has suggested that the SCS lacks validity evidence, prompting the development of a 10-item with enhanced psychometric properties. This study validated the 10-item SCS in a Korean sample by examining the factor structure, measurement invariance across Korean and U.S. samples, and associations with social anxiety variables. A total of 320 Korean adults and 361 European American adults participated in an online questionnaire. The 10-item SCS exhibited a more stable factor structure than the other versions and held measurement invariance across groups. Lastly, significant associations were found between the SCS and social anxiety variables.