Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale – SATAQ
Measures the internalization of societal appearance standards, perceived pressures to conform to these standards, and awareness of media messages regarding attractiveness.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale – SATAQ was developed by J. Kevin Thompson, P. A. Van den Berg, H. Keery, R. Williams, H. M. Shroff, G. I. Haselhuhn, & M. Boroughs (2000). It is designed to measure Sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and body image. The scale is intended for use with Adolescents and adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 38 items organized into 6 factors/subscales: Importance, Pressures, Internalization-TV/Mag, Internalization-Athlete, Internalization-Comparison, Awareness.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Importance | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 | 9 |
| Pressures | 10,11,12,13,14,15,16 | 7 |
| Internalization-TV/Mag | 17,18,19,20,21,22 | 6 |
| Internalization-Athlete | 23,24,25 | 3 |
| Internalization-Comparison | 26,27,28,29 | 4 |
| Awareness | 30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38 | 9 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Definitely Disagree, 2 = Mostly Disagree, 3 = Neither Agree Nor Disagree, 4 = Mostly Agree, 5 = Definitely Agree.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 38 to 190. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low endorsement of sociocultural appearance standards: 38 – 76
- Moderate endorsement of sociocultural appearance standards: 77 – 152
- High endorsement of sociocultural appearance standards: 153 – 190
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Not specified in source text.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.