Self-Presentation Tactics Scale (SPTS)
(Lee et al., 1999 ).
Variable
Self-presentation tactics are the specific behaviors in which people engage to make particular impressions of
themselves on other people.
Sample
Initial item selection was based on responses of 206 college students (96 men, 107 women, 3 unknown) and
then validated on a sample of 395 students (179 men, 212 women, 4 unknown) ( Lee et al., 1999 ).
Description
The SPTS contains 63 items that were developed to assess the use of 12 self-presentation tactics that have been
identified in previous theory and research: excuses (verbal statements that deny responsibility for negative
events), justifications (statements that offer reasons that an undesirable behavior was justified), disclaimers (pre-
emptive explanations that are offered before image-damaging events occur), self-handicapping (creating obstacles
to one’s success to obfuscate attributions for possible failure), apologies (expressions of remorse and guilt for
harmful behaviors), ingratiation (actions that promote others’ liking of the individual), intimidation (actions that
convey an impression of being powerful and dangerous), supplication (actions that convey an impression of
being weak and in need of others’ support), entitlement (actions that claim responsibility for positive outcomes),
enhancement (actions that foster the perceived positivity of the outcomes of one’s behavior), blasting (actions
that derogate people or groups with which one is associated), and exemplification (actions that convey an
impression of being moral and having integrity). All subscales contain five items except ingratiation, which con-
tains eight. Respondents rate how frequently they engage in each behavior on a scale ranging from 1 ( very infre-
quently )t o9( very frequently ).
In addition to providing scores for 12 self-presentation tactics, the subscale scores may be combined to provide
global measures of defensive and assertive self-presentation tactics. Defensive self-presentation tactics are used to
defend or restore public images that have been damaged, and include excuses, justification, disclaimers, self-
handicapping, and apologies. Assertive self-presentation tactics are used to foster public images proactively and
include ingratiation, intimidation, supplication, entitlement, enhancement, blasting, and exemplification.
An initial set of 90 items was administered to 206 respondents. After refining the item set on the basis of item-
total correlations and inter-item reliability, 73 items were administered to a second sample of 395 individuals.
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Lee et al. (1999) reported that Cronbach’s alpha coefficient exceeded 0.70 for all tactics subscales except self-
handicapping ( α50.58), supplication ( α50.60), and blasting ( α50.68). Even so, these alpha coefficients are
probably adequate for 5-item scales.
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.86 for the defensive self-presentation tactic subscale and 0.91 for the asser-
tive self-presentation tactic subscale. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the whole Self-presentation Tactics Scale
was found to be 0.93.
Test/C0Retest
The 3-week test-retest correlations ( n577 college students) for the total scale, defensive tactic subscale, and
assertive tactic subscale were 0.89, 0.88, and 0.89, respectively. The test-retest correlations for all 12 subscales
were also acceptable (0.70 ,r,0.85) ( Lee et al., 1999 ).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
All subscales except apology correlated significantly with self-monitoring (0.14 ,r,0.35). The defensive tac-
tics subscale ( r50.29), the assertive tactics subscale ( r50.35), and the total scale score ( r50.35) also correlated
significantly with self-monitoring. The Self-handicapping Scale correlated significantly more highly with the
defensive tactics subscale ( r50.44) than with the assertive tactics subscale ( r50.19).465 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
IV. INTERPERSONAL STYLES