Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Sociotropy–Autonomy Scale: Structure and Implications

  • Published:
Cognitive Therapy and Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Sociotropy Autonomy Scale (SAS), especially the Autonomy Scale, has demonstrated inconsistent results concerning its relationship to depression and psychopathology. We hypothesized that these inconsistent findings may be related to the factor structure of the SAS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the SAS were conducted in two separate samples of psychiatric outpatients (n = 1033, n = 1034). The results revealed a two-factor solution for sociotropy: Preference for Affiliation and Fear of Criticism and Rejection. The second factor, Fear of Criticism and Rejection, had a stronger association with psychopathology than the first factor. The results also indicated a two-factor solution for autonomy: Sensitivity to Others' Control and Independent Goal Attainment. Although the Sensitivity to Others' Control factor had a positive correlation with psychopathology, the Independent Goal Attainment factor had a negative correlation with psychopathology. We speculate that Independent Goal Attainment may be associated with resilience or hardiness and functions as a buffer against stress. Implications for revising the SAS as well as employing these factors in future studies are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Aikake, H. (1987). Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika, 52, 317-332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alden, L. E., & Bieling, P. J. (1996). Interpersonal convergence of personality constructs in dynamic and cognitive models of depression. Journal of Research in Personality, 30, 60-75.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arbuckle, J. (1992). Getting started with AmosDraw under Windows. Unpublished manuscript, Temple University, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D. A., Joffe, R. T., Schuller, D., & Gilchrist, E. (1998). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Revised Personal Style Inventory. Assessment, 5, 31-43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, P. A., & Gotlib, I. H (1988). Psychosocial functioning and depression: Distinguishing among antecedents, concomitants, and consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 97-126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T. (1983). Cognitive therapy of depression: New perspectives. In P. J. Clayton & J. E. Barnett (Eds.), Treatment of depression: Old controversies and new approaches (pp. 265-290). New York: Raven Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 893-897.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Harrison R. P., & Emery, G. (1983). Development of the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale: A measure of personality factors in psychopathology. Unpublished manuscript, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1988). Beck Hopelessness Scale manual. San Antonio. TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1990). Beck Anxiety Inventory manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Garbin, M. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77-100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bieling, P. J., Beck, A. T., & Brown, G. K. (1998). Cognitive therapy and the factors of the Sociotropy Autonomy Scale: Examining change and outcome. Unpublished manuscript, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bieling, P. J., Olshan, S., Beck, A. T., & Brown, G. K. (1998). The Sociotropy Autonomy Scale: A review of the extant literature. Manuscript in preparation.

  • Blaney, P. H., & Kutcher, G. S. (1991). Measures of depressive dimensions: Are they interchangeable? Journal of Personality Assessment, 56, 502-512.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blatt, S. J., D'Affliti, J. P., & Quinlan, D. M. (1976). Experiences of depression in young adults. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 383-389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blatt, S. J., Zohar, A. H., Quinlan, D. M., Zuroff, D. C., et al. (1995). Subscales within the dependency factors of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64, 319-339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozdogan, H. (1987). Model selection and Aikake's information criterion (AIC): The general theory and its analytical extensions. Psychometrika, 52, 345-370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1989). Single sample cross-validation indices for covariance structures. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 24, 445-455.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, D. D., & Eidelson, R. J. (1998). Why are depression and anxiety correlated: A test of the tripartite model. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 461-473.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cappeliez, P. (1993). The relationship between Beck's concepts of sociotropy and autonomy and the NEO-Personality Inventory. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 32, 78-80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cattel, R. B. (1966). The scree test for number of factors. Multivariate Behavior Research, 1, 245-276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. T. (1991). Personality factors in dysphoria: A psychometric refinement of Beck's Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 13, 369-388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. A., Beck, A. T., & Alford, B. A. (1999). Scientific foundations of the cognitive theory and therapy of depression. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. A., & Oates, T. (1995). Daily hassles, major and minor life events, and their interaction with sociotropy and autonomy. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 819-823.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. A., Steer, R. A., Haslam, N., Beck, A. T., & Brown, G. K. (1997). Personality vulnerability, diagnoses, and symptoms: Cluster analyses of the Sociotropy-Autonomy subscales. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21, 267-283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, P., & Reynolds, S. (1990). The relationship between Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and Beck's concepts of sociotropy and autonomy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 29, 319-325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, M. (1959). The assessment of anxiety states by rating. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 32, 50-55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, M. (1960). A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 23, 56-61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammen, C., Ellicott, A., Gitlin, M. (1989) Vulnerability to specific life events and prediiction of course of disorder in unipolar depressed patients. Canadia Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 21, 377-388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meng, X. L., Rosenthal, R., & Rubin, D. B. (1992). Comparing correlated correlation coefficients. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 172-175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, R. G., & Blackburn, I. M. (1994). The relationship of sociotropy and autonomy to symptoms, cognition and personality in depressed patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 32, 239-245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulaik, S. A., James, L. R., Van Alstine, J., Bennett, N., Lind, S., & Stilwell, C. D. (1989). Evaluation of goodness of fit indices for structural equation models. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 430-445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nietzel, M. T., & Harris, M. J. (1990). Relationship of dependency and achievement/autonomy to depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 279-297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peselow, E. D., Robins, C. J., Sanfilipo, M. P., Block, P., & Fieve, R. R. (1992). Sociotropy and autonomy: Relationship to antidepressant drug treatment response and endogenous-nonendogenous dichotomy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 479-486.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pincus, A. L., & Gurtman, M. B. (1995). The three faces of interpersonal dependency: Structural analyses of the self-report dependency measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 744-758.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. J. (1990). Congruence of personality and life events in depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 393-397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. J., & Block, P. (1988). Personal vulnerability, life events, and depressive symptoms: A test of the specific interactional model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 847-852.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. J., Block, P., & Peselow, E. D. (1989). Relations of sociotropic and autonomous personality characteristics to specific symptoms in depressed patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 98(1), 86-88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. J., Ladd, J., Welkowitz, J., Blaney, P. H., Diaz, R., & Kutcher, G. (1994). The Personal Style Inventory: Preliminary validation studies of new measures of sociotropy and autonomy. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 16, 277-300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rude, S. S., & Burnham, B. L. (1995). Connectedness and neediness: Factors of the DEQ and SAS Dependency Scales. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 19, 323-340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sato, T., & McCann, D. (1997). Vulnerability factors in depression: The facets of sociotropy and autonomy. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 19, 41-62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J., Harrington, J., House, R., & Ferrier, I. N. (1996). A preliminary study of the relationship among personality, cognitive vulnerability, symptom profile and outcome in major depressive disorder. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 184, 503-505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, A., & Haaga, D. F. (1994). Positive and negative aspects of sociotropy and autonomy. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 16, 243-253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., Gibbon, M., & First, M. B. (1990). User's guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, J. S., & Huba, G. J. (1984). Confirmatory hierarchical analyses of psychological distress measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 621-635.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J. B. W. (1988). A structured interview guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Archives of General Psychiarty, 45, 742-747.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zettle, R. D., Haflich, J. L., & Reynolds, R. A. (1992). Responsivity of cognitive therapy as a function of treatment format and client personality dimensions. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 48, 787-797.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zettle, R. D., & Herring, E. L. (1995). Treatment utility of the sociotropy/autonomy distinction: Implications for cognitive therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 280-289.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Peter J. Bieling

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Aaron T. Beck & Gregory K. Brown

Authors
  1. Peter J. Bieling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Aaron T. Beck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gregory K. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bieling, P.J., Beck, A.T. & Brown, G.K. The Sociotropy–Autonomy Scale: Structure and Implications. Cognitive Therapy and Research 24, 763–780 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005599714224

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005599714224

Search

Navigation