BEI~VIORTHFa~AFY(19'74) 5, 165--171

The College Self-Expression Scale:

A Measure of Assertiveness
JOHN P. GALASSI,1'2 JAMES S. DELo, MERNA D. GALASSI
AND SHEILA BASTIEN
West Virginia University, Morgantowr,, West Virginia
The College Self-Expression Scale is a 50 item self-report inventory
which is designed to measure assertiveness in college students. The scale
taps three dimensions of assertiveness (positive assertiveness, negative
assertiveness, and self denial) in a variety of interpersonal contexts: family,
strangers, business relations, authority figures, and like and opposite sex
peers. Normative, reliability, and validity data are presented. The value of
the scale to both clinicians and researchers is discussed.
Assertive training is one of the earliest of the therapeutic procedures
developed b y behavior therapists (Salter, 1949). Assertiveness has been
defined b y Alberti and E m m o n s (1970) as " . . . behavior which enables
a person to act in his own best interests, or stand up for himself without
undue anxiety, to express his rights without denying the rights of others."
W o l p e (1969) states that appropriate assertiveness denotes " . . .
the
outward expression of practically all feelings other than anxiety . . . .
It m a y express friendly, affectionate, and other nonanxious feelings."
In spite of both its early development and the fact that assertive training appears to be one of the most promising contributions b y behavior
therapy to date (Bandura, 1969; Mischel, 1968; Ullmann & Krasner,
1965), research on assertiveness has been slow to emerge. Perhaps one
of the factors that has retarded its investigation is the absence of a standardized instrument which is designed to serve diagnostic purposes and
to measure change. Previous research has relied upon instruments which
were unstandardized (e.g., Lazarus, 1966), which were not designed
specifically to measure the construct (e.g., Hedquist & Weinhold, 1970),
or which t a p p e d only limited aspects of assertiveness (e.g., McFall &
Lillesand, 1971).
1 Requests for reprints should be sent to John P. Ga|assi, Student Counseling
Service, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506.
2 The authors are indebted to Martha DeLo for her contribution to the study.
165
Copyright 1974 by Aeademic Press, Inc.
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

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GALASSI E T AL.

TABLE 1
The College Self-Expression Scale
The following inventory is designed to provide information about the way in which you
express yourself. Please answer the questions by checking the appropriate box from
0-4 (Almost Always or Always, 0; Usually, 1; Sometimes, 2; Seldom, 3; Never or Rarely,
4) on the computer answer sheet. Your answer should reflect how you generally express
yourself in the situation.
1. Do you ignore it when someone pushes in front of you in line?
2. When you decide t h a t you no longer wish to date someone, do you have marked
difficulty telling the person of your decision?
3. Would you exchange a purchase you discover to be faulty? (R)
4. If you decided to change your major to a field which your parents will not approve,
would you have difficulty telling them?
5. Are you inclined to be over-apologetic?
6. If you were studying and if your roommate were making too much noise, would you
ask him to stop? (R)
7. Is it difficult for you to compliment and praise others?
8. If you are angry at your parents, can you tell them? (R)
9. Do you insist that your roommate does his fair share of the cleaning? (R)
10. If you find yourself becoming fond of someone you are dating, would you have
difficulty expressing these feelings to that person?
11. If a friend who has borrowed $5.00 from you seems to have forgotten about it,
would you remind this pemon? (R)
12. Are you overly careful to avoid hurting other people's feelings?
13. If you have a close friend whom your parents dislike and constantly criticize, would
you inform your parents that you disagree with them and tell them of your friend's
assets? (R)
14. Do you find it difficult to ask a friend to do a favor for you?
15. If food which is not to your satisfaction is served in a restaurant, would you complain about it to the waiter? (R)
16. If your roommate without your permission eats food that he knows you have been
saving, can you express your displeasure to him? (R)
17. If a sMesnmn has gone to considerable trouble to show you some merchandise which
is not quite suitable, do you have difficulty in saying no?
18. Do you keep your opinions to yourself?
19. If friends visit when you want to study, do you ask them to return at a more convenient time? (R)
20. Are you able to express love and affection to people for whom you care? (R)
21. If you were in a small seminar and the professor made a statement that you considered untrue, would you question it? (R)
22. If a person of the opposite sex whom you have been wanting to meet smiles or directs
attention to you at a party, would you take the initiative in beginning a
conversation? (R)
23. If someone you respect expresses opinions with which you strongly disagree, would
you venture to state your own point of view? (R)
24. Do you go out of your way to avoid trouble with other people?
25. If a friend is wearing a new outfit which you like, do you tell t h a t person so? (R)
26. If after leaving a store you realize that you have been "short-changed," do you
go back and request the correct amount? (R)

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167

T A B L E 1 (Contfnued)
27. If a friend makes what you consider to be an unreasonable request, are you able to
refuse? (R)
28. If a close and respected relative were annoying you, would you hide your feelings
rather than express your annoyance'?
29. If your parents want you to come home for a weekend b u t you have made i m p o r t a n t
plans, would you tell them of your preference? (R)
30. Do you express anger or annoyance toward the opposite sex when it is justified? (R)
31. If a friend does an errand for you, do you tell t h a t person how much you appreciate
it? (R)
32. When a person is b l a t a n t l y unfMr, do you fail to say something about it to him?
33. Do you avoid social contacts for fear of doing or saying the wrong thing?
34. If a friend betrays your confidence, would you hesitate to express annoyance to t h a t
person?
35. When a clerk in a store waits on someone who has come in after you, do you call
his attention to the matter? (R)
36. If you are particularly happy about someone's good fortune, can you express this
to t h a t person? (R)
37. Would you be hesitant about asking a good friend to lend you a few dollars?
38. If a person teases you to the point t h a t it is no longer fun, do you have difficulty
expressing your displeasure?
39. If you arrive late for a meeting, would you rather stand t h a n go to a front seat
which could only be secured with a fair degree of conspicuousness?
40. If your date calls on Saturday night 15 minutes before you are supposed to meet
and says t h a t she (he) has to study for ml important exam and cannot make it,
would you express your annoyance? (R)
41. If someone keeps kicking the back of your chair in a movie, would you ask him to
stop? (R)
42. If someone interrupts you in the middle of an i m p o r t a n t conversation, do you
request t h a t the pelion wait until you have finished? (R)
43. Do you freely volunteer information or opinions in class discussions? (R)
44. Are you reluctant to speak to an attractive acquaintance of the opposite sex?
45. If you lived in an a p a r t m e n t and the landlord failed to make certain necessary
repMrs after promising to do so, would you insist on it? (R)
46. If your parents want you home b y a certain time which you feel is m u c h too early
and unreasonable, do you a t t e m p t to discuss or negotiate this with them? (R)
47. Do you find it difficult to stand up for your rights? (R)
48. If a friend unjustifiably criticizes you, do you express your resentment there and
then? (R)
49. Do you express your feelings to others? (R)
50. Do you avoid asking questions in class for fear of feeling self-conscious?
(R) = Reverse scored.
The present study reports on an instrument which was designed
s p e c i f i c a l l y t o m e a s u r e a s s e r t i v e n e s s , as i t is b r o a d l y d e f i n e d a b o v e , i n
college students. The successful expression of personal feelings, values,
and attitudes constitutes a particularly important developmental task
(Coons,

1970)

for this population.

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GALASSI ET AL.
METHOD

The Scale
The College Self-Expression Scale (CSES) is a 50 item, self-report measure (see
Table 1 ). It utilizes a five-point Likert format (0-4) with 21 positively worded
items and 29 negatively worded items. The sca!e attempts to measure three aspects
of assertiveness: positive, negative, and self-denial. Positive assertiveness consists
of expressing feelings of love, affection, admiration, approval and agreement. Negative
assertions include expressions of justified feelings of anger, disagreement, dissatisfaction and annoyance; whereas, self-denial includes overapologizing, excessive interpersonal anxiety, and exaggerated concern for the feelings of others. The scale also
indicates a subject's level of assertiveness vis-a-vis a variety of role occupants:
strangers, authority figures, business relations, family and relatives, like and opposite
sex peers. Items for the scale, in part, were derived or modified from work by
Lazarus (1971), Wo!pe (1969), and Wolpe and Lazarus (1966). A total score for
the scale is obtained by summing all positively worded items and reverse scoring
and summing all negatively worded items. Low scores are indicative of a generalized
nonassertive response pattern.

Procedure
Normative data were collected on four separate samples: 91 students enrolled
in an introductory psychology course at West Virginia University, 47 upper division
and beginning graduate students enrolled in a personality theory course and an
introductory testing course at West Virginia University, and 41 elementary and 82
secondary school student teachers at Fairmont State College.
Test-retest reliability data were collected for the first two samples of students
over a 2-wk period. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were computed
for each group on total scores for the two occasions. Two types of validity data,
construct and concurrent, were obtained for the scale.
Construct validity was established by correl~ating the CSES with the 24 scales
of the Adjective Check List (Gough and Heilbrnn, 1965). The Adjective Check List
(ACL) consists of 300 common adjectives which compose 24 personality scales, 15
of which operationalize constructs of Murray's need-press system. The ACL was
administered to 79, of the 91 psychology one students.
Concurrent validity was obtained by correlating the CSES scores of the combined
sample of 121 student teachers with ratings of their assertiveness made by immediate supervisors. Each student was rated on a five-point CSES Behavioral Rating
Form for Observers. 3
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Normative Data and Reliability

I n all of t h e s a m p l e s , m a l e s a c h i e v e d s l i g h t l y h i g h e r s c o r e s t h a n females (Table 2). The test-retest reliability coefficients for samples one
a n d t w o w e r e 0.89 a n d 0.90, r e s p e c t i v e l y .
8 Available from the authors upon request.

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A M E A S U R E OF ASSERTIVENESS

TABLE 2
Means and Standard Deviations on the College Self-Expression Scale
Sample

Sex

Mean

SI)

W.V.U. Psych, I
Pretest

Male
Female

W.V.U. Psych, I
Posttest

Male
Fern ale

W.V.U. Upper division and

graduate students
Pretest
W.V.U. Upper division and
graduate students
Posttest
Fairmont State Elementary
Student teachers

Male
Female

Fairmont State Secondary

Student teachers

Male
Female

5S
33
91
58
33
91
19
28
47
19
28
47
7
34
41
36
46
82

121.97
117.91
120.31
124.16
120.82
121.95
133.00
124.75
128.09
132.74
123.39
127.17
123.14
122.44
122.56
128.75
118.46
122.98

14.12
16.01
18.05
19.5~
20.11
19.73
11.96
17.55
15.46
14.11
20.62
18.68
27.73
17.17
1S.94
18.27
17.77
18.61

Male
Female
Male
Female

Construct Validity
As expected, the College Self-Expression Scale correlates positively
and significantly with the following Adjective Check List Scales: N u m b e r
checked, Defensiveness, Favorable, Self-Confidence, Achievement,
Dominance, Intraception, Heterosexuality, Exhibition, Autonomy, and
Change ( T a b l e 3). Gough and Heilbrun's (1965) definitions of these
scales suggest characteristics which typify assertiveness. The assertive
individual is expressive, spontaneous, well defended, confident, and able
to influence and lead others.
Significant negative correlations were obtained with the Unfavorable,
Succorance, Abasement, Deference, and Counseling Readiness Scales.
These results are consistent with nonassertiveness and indicate an inadequate and negative self-evaluation, feelings of inferiority, a tendency
to be over solicitous of emotional support from others, and excessive
interpersonal anxiety (Counseling Readiness).
Descriptions of the Self-Control, Lability, Endurance, Order, Nurturance, Affiliation, and Aggression scales b y Gough and Heilbrun (1965)
suggested that these variables would not be significantly related to
reSponses on the CSES. This, in fact, was the case. The confirmation of a

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GALASSI ET AL.

TABLE 3
Intercorrelations between the College Self-Expression Scale and the
Adjective Cheek List Scales
CSES
CSES
CSES
CSES
CSES
CSES
CSES
CSES

Number checked
0.33
Unfavorable
- 0.25
Lability
0.21
Dominance
0.46
Intraception
0.22
Heterosexuality
0.46
Aggression
0.17
Abasement
-- 0.35

r < 0.23 p < .05

r < 0.29 p < .01

Defensiveness
0.35
Self-confidence
0.46
Personal adjustment
0.22
Endurance
0.16
Nurturance
0.15
Exhibition
0.48
Change
0.43
Deference
- 0.29

Favorable
0.30
Self-control
- 0.11
Achievement
0.34
Order
0.10
Affiliation
0.22
Autonomy
0.24
Succorance
-0.31
Counseling readiness
- 0.43
r < 0.33
r < 0.39

p < .005
p < .001

nonsignificant correlation between Aggression and the CSES is of especial

importance since aggressiveness is often mistaken for assertiveness.
The correlation between Personal Adjustment and assertiveness, although positive, did not achieve significance. However, the correlation
of the CSES with other scales notably the Counseling Readiness and
Unfavorable Scales suggests poorer adjustment on the part of low scorers
on the CSES.

Concurrent Validity
The correlation between supervisor and self-ratings on assertiveness
was 0.19, p < .04. Although this correlation is significant, it is low. However, the nature of the interaction between supervisor and supervisee
may have vitiated this correlation. This interaction was for the most
part limited to the subject's performance as a classroom teacher. The
supervisor had limited information in regard to the subject's ability to
function with peers, family, etc., which the CSES also taps. In light of
the high construct validity with the Adjective Check List, it would be
expected that the use of raters, who are trained in observation and evaluation of the construct of assertiveness and who are acquainted with the
subject's behavior in a variety of situations, would undoubtedly raise the
concurrent validity correlation coefficient.

A MEASURE OF ASSERTIVENESS

171

CONCLUSION
T h e C o l l e g e S e l f - E x p r e s s i o n Scale p r o v i d e s a u s e f u l m e a s u r e of ass e r t i v e n e s s for c l i n i c i a n a n d r e s e a r c h e r alike. T h e scale c a n b e u t i l i z e d
b y t h e r a p i s t s to d e t e r m i n e q u i c k l y t h e t y p e of assertive r e s p o n s e s w h i c h
a client fails to emit, as w e l l as t h e i n t e r p e r s o n a l situations in w h i c h
a p p r o p r i a t e a s s e r t i v e n e s s is n o t f o r t h c o m i n g . F o r those w h o wish to do
r e s e a r c h on assertive t r a i n i n g , t h e C S E S is a v a l u a b l e i n s t r u m e n t for
i n i t i a l s u b j e c t s e l e c t i o n a n d for t h e m e a s u r e m e n t of change.
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