Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale – SATAQ
Measures awareness, internalization, and perceived pressure regarding societal and media appearance standards.
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. 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.
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.