Development of the Interpersonal Sensitivity/Privileged Self Scale: The measurement of a psychological characteristic related to “Modern-type Depression”

Abstract

We developed the Interpersonal Sensitivity/Privileged Self Scale (IPS) to measure personality traits related to “modern-type depression,” and assessed its validity and reliability through three surveys completed by 804 undergraduates. Factors for validity were examined by confirmatory factor analysis. As predicted, the scale comprised two superordinate factors: interpersonal sensitivity (IS) and privileged self (PS). Criterion-related validity for the IPS scale was assessed by examining its relationship with depressive symptoms and typus melancholicus, and by comparing subscale scores regarding depression types (i.e., melancholic, atypical). All subscale scores were positively correlated with depressive symptoms. Correlations between typus melancholicus and subscales showed that the interpersonal sensitivity subscale was positively correlated with typus melancholicus, while the privileged self subscale was not correlated. An analysis of variance revealed that the “self-righteousness” score was significantly higher for the atypical depression group compared to the melancholic depression group. The test-retest correlation indicated good test-retest reliability for all subscales. Overall, the findings indicated that the IPS has high validity and reliability.