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The measurement of Denial and rationalization in male alcholics
Author(s) -
Charles Ward L.,
Rothaus Paul
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(199105)47:3<465::aid-jclp2270470322>3.0.co;2-j
Subject(s) - denial , rationalization (economics) , psychology , alcohol abuse , clinical psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , psychoanalysis , philosophy , epistemology
Two hundred male alcoholics were given 94 true‐false items constructed to characterize alcoholic defensiveness, and a factor analysis revealed two strong factors. The first factor (Denial) was correlated with items that asserted an ability to control one's drinking, denied being an alcoholic or needing treatment, or minimized the consequences of alcohol abuse. Items that loaded the other factor (Rationalization) gave reasons, justifications, and excuses for drinking. Two derived scales were examined in a replication sample of 66 male alcoholics, and alpha coefficients (.84 and .85) from the first sample did not show undue shrinkage in the second (.86 and .77).