Evaluating the Validity and Reliability of the Fear of Being Laughed at (Gelotophobia) Scale Among Students of University of Isfahan in 2015

People who have features of fear of being laughed at, always worried that others ridicule them or laugh at them. This misinterpretation of others laughter have a negative impact on their social interaction. Therefore, it is necessary to assess these variables for research and treatment purposes. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the validity and reliability of the Fear of Being Laughed at Scale among students of University of Isfahan in 2015.
This was a cross-sectional validation study. The population of the study included all students who studied in the academic year of 2014-2015 at University of Isfahan. Among these individuals, 150 participants (83 males and 67 females) were selected as the sample using multi-stage cluster sampling method. To investigate the validity of the scale, methods of content, convergent, and diagnostic validity, as well as item correlation with the total score and factor analysis were used. The reliability of the scale was investigated using methods of internal consistency and split – half reliability.
There was a positive significant correlation between the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNES-B) and the Fear of Being Laughed at Scale (r=0.49, p=0.01). The results of ttest indicated that this scale distinct well between students and siblings of children with autism. The correlation coefficients of items with the total score was significant in all cases and were at the range of 0.46 to 0.74. In addition, factor analysis indicates the existence of a factor. The internal consistency of the scale was calculated using chronbach’s alpha and was equal to 0.88. The split-half coefficient for the first half of the data was equal to 0.81 and for the second half of the data, it was 0.82. Furthermore, the correlation between the two halves was 0.65. There was no significant difference between the mean scores of females and males in the Fear of Being Laughed at Scale (p=0.142).
The results obtained from the present research indicated that the fear of being laughed at scale enjoys appropriate reliability and validity and can be used to measure the fear of being laughed at for research and clinical use.