Excerpted from AIDSQuest: HIV/AIDS Survey Library, Horizons Program, 2008, Washington, DC: Population Council.
(More on AIDSQuest)
Overview
The Sexual Assertiveness Scale for Women (SAS) was developed by Patricia Morokoff. The SAS was developed to measure initiation of wanted sexual experience, refusal of unwanted sexual experience, and prevention of pregnancy/STIs with a regular partner. It was designed specifically for women because previous theorists have established the importance of limiting the domain and population for measures of assertiveness. The scale consists of 18 items, which are subdivided into three subscales of six items each, assessing assertiveness related to initiation, refusal, and pregnancy/STI prevention. Questions refer to a steady partner, or the respondent’s last steady partner, and ask the respondent to answer the questionnaire with that person in mind.
Methodology/validity
Four studies were
conducted to develop and validate the scale. Two samples of
undergraduate women (n = 513) were studied. All women were at least 18
years of age. The scale possesses good internal consistency (coefficient
alpha averages 0.76 for the three subscales and total scores) and
predictive and construct validity.
