Assessing emotional expression: Spanish adaptation of the Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness Scale

Psychometric properties of the R/ED Scale were investigated in four samples of Spanish populations: male (n = 98) and female (n = 239) students, healthy women (n = 96), women with benign breast disease (n = 90), and women with breast cancer (n = 122). Analyses reveal high inter-item consistency (Cronbachʹs alpha from 0.82 to 0.87), high item remainder correlations (ranking from 0.63 to 0.32), high test-retest reliability (15 days, r = 0.81), and no significant correlations between R/ED Scale and Social Desirability (r = −0.17) and faking (r = −0.09) were found. In line with Spielberger and colleaguesʹ results, factorial analysis reveals the stability (across samples) of two factors, so called, ‘Rationality’ and ‘Emotional Defensiveness’. Finally, R/ED (R and ED Subscales) scores as well as item scores significantly differ between the breast cancer group and the other groups. These results are congruent with those obtained by Spielberger and associates as well as supporting the hypothesis that cancer patients have a specific behavioral pattern.