This paper describes the development of a scale to assess self-defeating personality. Cronbach alpha is .68, and 3-wk. test-retest reliability is .71 for men, .75 for women. Correlations between Gough and Heilbrun's Adjective Checklist Scales indicated the scale identifies individuals who strongly identify with a victim's position and have a number of characteristics consistent with the DSM-III—R criteria for diagnosing self-defeating personality disorder.
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