The Silencing the Self Scale

1. Abstract

The Silencing the Self Scale (STSS) is a widely recognized 31-item self-report psychometric instrument designed by developmental psychologist Dana Crowley Jack to evaluate cognitive schemas and behavioral patterns associated with relational self-suppression, primarily developed within the context of women’s elevated vulnerability to unipolar depression. Rooted in relational-cultural theory and feminist psychodynamic frameworks, the STSS captures the degree to which individuals suppress their own emotional expression, internal desires, and authentic self-representation to maintain intimate partnerships, avert relational abandonment, and avoid conflict. The instrument operationalizes the self-silencing construct across four distinct, theoretically coherent subscales: Silencing the Self (inhibiting direct speech to prevent relational disruption), Care as Self-Sacrifice (defining moral care as the deferral of one’s own needs to prioritize others), Externalized Self-Perception (evaluating personal self-worth based predominantly on perceived standards and external feedback from others), and the Divided Self (the painful intrapsychic fracture experienced between an outwardly compliant exterior and an authentic, often frustrated inner reality).

Responses are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree), yielding both individual subscale scores and a composite global index of self-silencing. Extensive psychometric validation over three decades across clinical, community, university, and diverse international populations confirms robust internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficients routinely ranging from .86 to .94 for the total score) and high test-retest reliability. Factor analytic studies generally corroborate the four-factor structural architecture while demonstrating remarkable cross-cultural robustness. Higher scores on the STSS demonstrate consistent, potent convergent validity with depressive symptomatology, anxious attachment, low self-esteem, chronic psychological distress, and various somatization conditions, including eating pathology and cardiovascular reactivity, making the instrument an indispensable fixture within clinical psychology, gender studies, psychosomatic medicine, and relational psychometrics.

2. Keywords

Silencing the Self Scale, STSS, Dana Crowley Jack, self-silencing, relational-cultural theory, depression, gender roles, self-sacrifice, divided self, psychometrics, relational schemas, interpersonal suppression

3. Authors

The Silencing the Self Scale was authored by Dana Crowley Jack, Ed.D., an American developmental psychologist and Professor Emerita at the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Western Washington University (Bellingham, Washington, United States). Dr. Jack developed the theoretical paradigm of self-silencing through qualitative and longitudinal investigations of women experiencing clinical depression, formalizing the measurement model in collaboration with Diana Dill (Jack & Dill, 1992). Her scholarly trajectory has focused extensively on women’s mental health, gender-specific cognitive mechanisms in affective disorders, moral development, cross-cultural expressions of relational distress, and interpersonal dynamics.

4. Purpose

The primary purpose of the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS) is to assess the specific cognitive-affective schemas and interpersonal behavioral tactics through which individuals compromise their personal autonomy, communicative agency, and authentic self-expression to secure, preserve, and appease intimate attachments. Historically, mainstream cognitive models of depression—such as Aaron Beck’s cognitive triad—conceptualized depressive vulnerability predominantly through autonomous, intrapsychic lenses, framing cognitive distortions around internal inadequacy, personal failure, and defective internal schemas. Dr. Jack proposed a complementary, culturally and interpersonally contextualized model: for many individuals, particularly women socialized under patriarchal gender imperatives, depression is fundamentally precipitated and sustained by relational dilemmas, where preserving a relationship requires the systematic cognitive and emotional subordination of the self.

In clinical practice, the STSS functions as an essential diagnostic adjunct and therapeutic mapping tool. Clinicians utilize the scale to elucidate why clients present with chronic dysphoria, passive-aggressive communication, somatic complaints, unexpressed marital rage, and persistent feelings of emptiness. When administered during initial intakes or throughout relational psychotherapy, the instrument highlights whether a patient’s emotional blunting originates from internal affective flattening or an intentional, learned defense mechanism meant to “keep the peace” or avoid triggering intimate partner aggression, emotional withdrawal, or abandonment. Identifying elevated scores on specific subscales—such as Divided Self or Care as Self-Sacrifice—empowers psychotherapists to structure targeted interventions that address maladaptive boundaries, fear of emotional honesty, assertive communication deficits, and excessive codependency.

In academic, epidemiological, and psychiatric research, the STSS provides a rigorous quantitative measure for exploring the intricate intersections between gender-role socialization, interpersonal functioning, and systemic pathology. It is widely employed in research assessing vulnerability to major depressive disorder, postpartum depression, generalized anxiety disorder, borderline personality pathology, and trauma-induced relational compliance. Furthermore, behavioral medicine has established vital associations between elevated self-silencing and somatic morbidity, including eating disorders, immune dysregulation, chronic pain syndromes, and cardiovascular disease morbidity, illustrating the critical bodily cost of chronic emotional suppression.

5. Psychological Construct

The core psychological construct evaluated by the STSS is self-silencing: an organized configuration of internal beliefs, socio-cultural mandates, and behavioral choices that dictate how an individual negotiates intimate relationships. According to Jack’s conceptualization, self-silencing is not simply behavioral passivity, introversion, or shyness. Rather, it represents an active, highly conscious, and exhausting psychological compromise wherein an individual adopts socially reinforced gender norms that equate female goodness, caregiving, and relational stability with total self-abnegation. The construct comprises four primary interrelated dimensions:

Silencing the Self

The Silencing the Self subscale measures an individual’s explicit inhibition of thoughts, feelings, and self-assertion during relational conflict, governed by the pervasive conviction that honest expression will jeopardize the emotional security or viability of the partnership. Individuals endorsing high levels on this dimension exhibit pronounced conflict-avoidance behaviors, deliberately choosing not to “rock the boat” when their values, boundaries, or desires deviate from those of their partner. This suppression creates an interpersonal facade of continuous compliance, leaving genuine disagreements unresolved and generating profound underlying resentment.

Care as Self-Sacrifice

The Care as Self-Sacrifice dimension measures the extent to which an individual views moral goodness and personal capacity for genuine love as inextricably bound to the sacrifice of personal needs. Rooted in Carol Gilligan’s descriptions of conventional moral development, this cognitive schema dictates that attending to one’s own desires, physical well-being, or emotional requirements is fundamentally “selfish.” Consequently, the individual feels a compulsive ethical obligation to secure the happiness of the partner and family at the direct expense of their own psychological and somatic equilibrium.

Externalized Self-Perception

The Externalized Self-Perception subscale assesses the degree to which an individual judges, evaluates, and defines their personal worth using external standards and the anticipated judgments of others, rather than relying on an autonomous, internal locus of evaluation. Persons scoring high on this dimension lack a stable sense of internal validation; their self-concept is continuously destabilized by perceived criticism, partner displeasure, or societal expectations regarding how modern individuals ought to behave, feel, and achieve across multiple domestic and professional roles.

Divided Self

The Divided Self subscale captures the intrapsychic fragmentation that inevitably arises when an individual maintains an outwardly compliant, agreeable, and pleasant exterior while concealing an internal state marked by anger, rebellion, sorrow, and unexpressed authenticity. This polarization between the “public/relational self” and the “secret/hidden self” precipitates profound existential alienation, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion, directly exacerbating feelings of unreality, loneliness, and severe clinical depression.

6. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework of the Silencing the Self Scale is grounded primarily in Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT), pioneered by Jean Baker Miller, Judith V. Jordan, Irene Stiver, and colleagues at the Stone Center, alongside the groundbreaking developmental psychology of Carol Gilligan. Classical developmental paradigms—exemplified by Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Lawrence Kohlberg—historically conceptualized psychological maturity as a linear progression toward autonomy, individuation, separation, and abstract justice. Within these androcentric models, interpersonal dependency, relational orientation, and heightened emotional empathy were frequently pathologized as developmental arrests or excessive dependency.

Conversely, Relational-Cultural Theory posited that human growth occurs primarily in, through, and toward relationship. Connection, mutual empathy, and relational responsiveness represent mature, normative, and vital human capacities. However, when embedded within patriarchal and culturally unequal social structures, women and subordinate groups internalize societal mandates that equate love with subordinate accommodation. Dana Crowley Jack integrated these relational paradigms with qualitative psychiatric research, observing that depressed women consistently described a painful paradox: in their desperate effort to preserve vital human connections, they adopted behavioral strategies that systematically eliminated their authentic voice and individuality, ultimately destroying the very capacity for authentic intimacy they sought to preserve.

From an epistemological and cognitive perspective, Jack extended cognitive vulnerability theories (such as cognitive-behavioral models) by asserting that maladaptive cognitive schemas do not emerge in a vacuum of irrationality; rather, they are logical, albeit destructive, internalizations of cultural dictates. Women learn that anger is unappeasable or dangerous, that an ideal partner is an emotional caretaker, and that asserting personal agency will provoke hostility, violence, or emotional desertion. Thus, self-silencing operates as a relational survival mechanism under unequal power dynamics. Over time, the physiological, cognitive, and interpersonal toll of chronic self-erasure dismantles self-efficacy and initiates the downward neurochemical and psychological spiral into clinical depression.

7. Validity

The validity of the Silencing the Self Scale has been rigorously evaluated across a broad spectrum of psychometric investigations spanning multiple decades, clinical settings, and cultural environments.

Construct and Convergent Validity

Construct validity was initially established by Jack and Dill (1992) across three distinct samples: a clinical sample of hospitalized depressed women, a community sample of battered women staying at shelters, and a normative university cohort. Across all cohorts, the STSS total score and its four individual subscales exhibited strong, statistically significant positive correlations with validated measures of depression, including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; correlations ranging from r = .52 to .68, p < .001) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Longitudinal investigations by Remen, Higgins, and Hackmann (2008) further confirmed that baseline STSS scores prospective predict both the onset and severity of depressive exacerbations over time, solidifying its predictive validity.

Convergent validity is also highlighted by strong inverse associations with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; typically r = -.45 to -.62), reflecting the severe erosion of self-esteem associated with chronic externalization of self-worth. In studies of attachment theory, STSS scores correlate robustly with anxious and fearful adult attachment orientations (evaluated via the Experiences in Close Relationships scale), underscoring that self-silencing acts as a behavioral manifestation of hyperactivating attachment strategies used to ward off perceived abandonment.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity has been demonstrated by showing that the STSS measures a distinct construct separate from generalized neuroticism, social desirability, and basic social introversion. While STSS correlates moderately with neuroticism (reflecting general negative affectivity), structural equation modeling demonstrates that self-silencing accounts for substantial unique variance in depressive symptoms above and beyond the Five-Factor Model traits. Furthermore, correlations with the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale have consistently hovered around non-significant or trivial levels (r < .15), establishing that high STSS scores do not merely reflect an individual’s attempt to present themselves in a socially favored, agreeable light, but instead represent genuine cognitive-affective distress.

8. Reliability

The Silencing the Self Scale demonstrates high internal consistency and temporal stability across clinical, undergraduate, and community demographics.

Internal Consistency

In the seminal psychometric report by Jack and Dill (1992), the total 31-item scale exhibited an overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .86 in a college sample, .91 in a community-based sample, and .89 in a clinical psychiatric cohort. Subsequent independent investigations across diverse international environments have consistently mirrored these metrics, routinely documenting composite alpha values between .88 and .94. Reliability indices for the individual subscales, while naturally slightly lower due to fewer items per factor, remain psychometrically sound across normative research:

• Silencing the Self: Cronbach’s alpha ranges typically from .79 to .87.
• Care as Self-Sacrifice: Cronbach’s alpha ranges typically from .70 to .82.
• Externalized Self-Perception: Cronbach’s alpha ranges typically from .74 to .84.
• Divided Self: Cronbach’s alpha ranges typically from .71 to .81.

Test-Retest Reliability

Temporal stability assessments have confirmed that the STSS captures enduring cognitive-relational schemas rather than transient mood fluctuations. In an initial test-retest reliability analysis conducted over a two-week interval with university participants, Jack and Dill (1992) documented a total test-retest correlation coefficient of r = .88 (p < .001), with subscale temporal correlations ranging from .73 (Care as Self-Sacrifice) to .89 (Externalized Self-Perception). Later studies evaluating longitudinal stability over intervals of 6 to 12 months have yielded coefficients between .65 and .78 in stable environments, demonstrating both sufficient trait stability and sensitive responsiveness to therapeutic clinical change.

9. Factor Analysis

The factorial validity of the Silencing the Self Scale was initially established using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) by Jack and Dill (1992), employing principal components analysis with varimax rotation on data gathered from non-clinical female samples. This classical analysis supported the extraction of the four prominent dimensions: Silencing the Self, Care as Self-Sacrifice, Externalized Self-Perception, and Divided Self, which collectively accounted for substantial total variance.

Subsequent Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) investigations conducted globally have largely sustained this multidimensional paradigm, while also identifying intriguing structural nuances:

• Model Fit Indices: Across numerous studies (e.g., Cramer, Gallant, & Langlois, 2005; Gratch, Bassett, & Attra, 1995), a four-factor hierarchical or correlated model demonstrates acceptable to excellent fit indices, with Comparative Fit Index (CFI) values ranging from .90 to .95, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) values between .89 and .94, and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values consistently falling between .045 and .068.
• Item-Factor Loadings: The vast majority of items display primary factor loadings exceeding .40 on their designated target constructs. A few items (such as Item 1, Item 8, and Item 11) feature minor cross-loadings or lower primary loadings in specific cultural adaptations, which psychometricians attribute to subtle nuances in semantic translation regarding autonomy versus selfishness.
• Cross-Gender and Invariance Testing: Although initially designed to assess women’s relational dynamics, structural invariance analyses (measuring configural, metric, and scalar invariance) indicate that the 4-factor configuration functions equivalently across both male and female populations. When men self-silence, their data map reliably onto the same structural factors, yielding similarly strong associations with affective distress.
• Alternative Factor Solutions: Several international psychometric investigations (e.g., across Turkish, Korean, and Italian cohorts) have evaluated whether a simplified three-factor model or a higher-order general “Self-Silencing” factor best captures variance. In most iterations, the hierarchical model—wherein a single overarching general self-silencing factor governs the four specific first-order factors—demonstrates the best empirical and conceptual parsimony.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

The Silencing the Self Scale is an easily administered self-report paper-and-pencil or digital inventory. The operational properties of the instrument are summarized as follows:

• Test Type: Multi-dimensional self-report psychological rating scale.
• Format: Written questionnaire comprising 31 declarative statements assessing interpersonal beliefs, emotional inhibition, and relational schemas.
• Target Population: Adults and adolescents aged 16 and older; validated in clinical, non-clinical, community, and cross-cultural cohorts. While originally worded for individuals in current or past intimate partnerships, instructions can be modified to evaluate close friendships or general interpersonal connections.
• Administration Time: Approximately 8 to 12 minutes.
• Response Scale: 5-point Likert-type rating continuum:
  • 1 = Strongly disagree
  • 2 = Somewhat disagree
  • 3 = Neither agree nor disagree
  • 4 = Somewhat agree
  • 5 = Strongly agree
• Reverse-Scored Items: Five items are framed positively representing autonomous, non-silenced relational self-assertion and must be reverse-coded (i.e., 1=5, 2=4, 3=3, 4=2, 5=1) prior to calculating scale totals: Items 1, 8, 11, 15, and 21.
• Subscale Item Composition:
  • Silencing the Self: 9 items (Items 2, 8*, 10, 14, 15*, 18, 24, 26, 30)
  • Care as Self-Sacrifice: 8 items (Items 3, 4, 9, 12, 20, 22, 27, 29)
  • Externalized Self-Perception: 6 items (Items 6, 7, 13, 23, 28, 31)
  • Divided Self: 5 items (Items 5, 16, 17, 19, 25)
  • Note on Item 1 & Item 11: Item 1 and Item 11 were included in initial overall operationalization of relational boundary dynamics and contribute to the total overall score, though they show varying placement across factor analyses.
• Scoring and Interpretation: Total scores range from 31 to 155. Higher composite and subscale scores directly reflect higher degrees of self-silencing, externalized moral validation, internal emotional suppression, and increased vulnerability to relational dissatisfaction and clinical depression. Scores can be evaluated as continuous sums or converted to mean composite scores (ranging from 1.0 to 5.0).

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Silencing the Self Scale was formally published in 1991 in Dana Crowley Jack’s foundational book, Silencing the Self: Women and Depression, with the comprehensive empirical psychometric validation paper appearing in 1992 (Jack & Dill, Psychological Assessment). The instrument holds copyright (© 1991) by Dana Crowley Jack. All rights are reserved by the author.

For non-commercial scholarly research, student dissertations, and standard educational activities, Dr. Jack has generously permitted the open academic use and reproduction of the STSS without royalty fees, provided that appropriate scholarly attribution is cited and the items remain unaltered. Commercial utilization, large-scale healthcare system distribution, or digital commercial health platform integration requires explicit written permission and formal licensing from the copyright holder. Inquiries and licensing requests may be directed through Western Washington University or Dr. Jack’s academic contact channels.

12. References

• Cramer, K. M., Gallant, M. D., & Langlois, M. W. (2005). Self-silencing and depression in women and men: A structural equation modeling approach. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(8), 1395–1406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.06.012
• Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women’s development. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjk2wr6
• Gratch, L. V., Bassett, M. E., & Attra, S. L. (1995). The factor structure of the Silencing the Self Scale in a college population. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 19(4), 505–515. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1995.tb00089.x
• Jack, D. C. (1991). Silencing the self: Women and depression. Harvard University Press.
• Jack, D. C., & Ali, A. (Eds.). (2010). Silencing the self across cultures: Depression and gender in the social world. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195398090.001.0001
• Jack, D. C., & Dill, D. (1992). The Silencing the Self Scale: Schemas of intimacy associated with depression in women. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 97–106. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.97
• Jordan, J. V., Kaplan, A. G., Miller, J. B., Stiver, I. P., & Surrey, J. L. (1991). Women’s growth in connection: Writings from the Stone Center. Guilford Press.
• Remen, A. L., Higgins, N. C., & Hackmann, C. (2008). Self-silencing and depression: The role of gender and relationship status. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27(6), 585–609. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2008.27.6.585
• Smolak, L., & Munstertieger, B. F. (2002). The relationship of gender role orientation, self-silencing, and disordered eating in college women. Sex Roles, 47(9), 425–434. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021644722513

13. Items of the Scale