External shame, loneliness, psychological distress, and well-being: insights from the Turkish adaptation of the Other as Shamer Scale-2

Abstract

BackgroundIn this paper, we examine the Other as Shamer Scale-2 (OAS-2), a unidimensional and brief scale to directly assess external shame. In three studies with three independent samples of a Turkish university, we present evidence for OAS-2 validity with respect to well-being outcomes (subjective happiness, flourishing, and subjective well-being) and psychological distress out-comes (depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness) through direct comparisons with existing measures.Participants and procedureIn Study 1 (N = 311), confirmatory factor analyses, measurement invariance across gender, and Item Response Theory (IRT) were examined. In Study 2 (N = 380), criterion-related validities of the OAS-2 were analyzed. In Study 3 (N = 252), incremen-tal validity was examined using PROCESS. Also, internal consistency, composite reliability, and temporal reliability (n = 89) of the OAS-2 were investigated.ResultsIn Study 1, confirmatory factor analyses supported the unidimensionality of the measure. The results provide support for meas-urement invariance across gender. All item scores fit the IRT model and were fit with ordered, progressing hierarchies in their step difficulties. In Study 2, criterion-related validity for the OAS-2 was demonstrated through positive correlations with loneli-ness, and negative correlations with subjective happiness and flourishing. In Study 3, findings indicated the mediation impact of external shame on well-being via psychological distress. The OAS-2 showed satisfactory reliability coefficients.ConclusionsOverall, the OAS-2 proved to be a valuable and reliable tool, which presents a short form to measure external shame. In addi-tion, it was observed that the OAS-2 was related to both well-being and psychological distress.