Social Interaction Self-Statement Test
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- Hardly ever had this thought
- Rarely had this thought
- Sometimes had this thought
- Often had this thought
- Very often had this thought
- Hardly ever had this thought
- Rarely had this thought
- Sometimes had this thought
- Often had this thought
- Very often had this thought
- I hardly ever had this thought
- I rarely had this thought
- I sometimes had this thought
- I often had this thought
- I very often had this thought
Social Interaction Self-Statement Test - Description and methodology of the test
People who notice anxious predictions, self-criticism, or hesitation during conversations may use SISST to examine the thoughts that accompany those moments. Rather than judging conversational performance, it maps the inner statements that can make an interaction feel threatening or manageable. The Social Interaction Self-Statement Test offers a structured profile of worry and perceived social competence for personal reflection.
What This Assessment Measures
Questions sample thoughts about embarrassment, rejection, conversational failure, and the possibility of being judged. Other items capture coping statements that make contact feel manageable, worthwhile, or less threatening. The themes suit readers exploring social anxiety, avoidance, or confidence in communication.
The result is organized around two displayed scales:
- Negative Thoughts (15-60) capture worry, nervousness, and a belief that communicating effectively may be difficult; bands are Low 15-34, Moderate 35-45, and High 46-60.
- Positive Thoughts (20-75) capture low worry, perceived social competence, and less concern about communication failures; bands are Low positive thoughts 20-45, Moderate positive thoughts 46-59, and High positive thoughts 60-75.
- Situational self-statements include examples of avoidance, catastrophe, persistence, or engagement; they are item content rather than a third reported scale.
Together, the profile describes thoughts during social interaction rather than conversational skill itself.
Methodology and Evidence Base
Each item uses five frequency choices, from hardly ever having the thought to having it very often. The respondent rates the thought’s occurrence, not whether the situation is objectively true. The questionnaire reports two scale scores with the displayed bands; its item aggregation, weighting, and reverse-scoring rule are not stated.
The online questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the instrument described by Glass et al. (1982), a cognitive measure of thoughts during social encounters, but is not necessarily a direct adaptation. Later evaluations by Dodge et al. (1988) and Osman et al. (1992) examined the published instrument in social-phobic and college samples. Those studies provide evidence about the published instrument, not norms or validation for this online questionnaire.
As a social interaction questionnaire, this self-report format can make recurring predictions easier to notice. Interpretation is strongest when considered alongside current context and examples from real interactions. Mood, self-awareness, memory, and the wish to appear more capable or distressed can affect self-report, so the result is best used as a focused reflection prompt rather than a standalone clinical conclusion.
- Glass, C. R., Merluzzi, T. V., Biever, J. L., & Larsen, K. H. (1982). Cognitive assessment of social anxiety: Development and validation of a self-statement questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 6(1), 37-55. 10.1007/BF01185725
- Dodge, C. S., Hope, D. A., Heimberg, R. G., & Becker, R. E. (1988). Evaluation of the Social Interaction Self-Statement Test with a Social Phobic Population. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 12(2), 211-222. 10.1007/BF01204932
- Osman, A., Markway, K., & Osman, J. R. (1992). Psychometric properties of the Social Interaction Self-Statement Test in a college sample. Psychological Reports, 71(3 Pt 2), 1171-1177. 10.2466/pr0.1992.71.3f.1171
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