Psychometric properties of the Persian version of Objectified Body Consciousness Scale

Objectified Body Consciousness Scale is a prominent scale of the key construct in the body image literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the Psychometric properties of the Persian version of Objectified Body Consciousness Scale in women. 290 female undergraduate students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz who were selected by multi - stage random sampling participated in this research. In order to collect information the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (McKinley & Hyde,1996), Appearance Schemas Inventory (Cash & Labarj,1996) and appearance orientation subscale of Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire -Appearance Scale (Cash,2000) were used. The validity of the OBCS was measured using confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity, and the reliability of the scale was assessed by internal consistency and Half-Split. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable fit of the extracted model. Correlation coefficients between the OBCS and its factors (body surveillance, body shame and appearance control beliefs) with appearance schema and appearance orientation showed that the scale has good convergent validity (p <0.01). Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for OBCS and its factors (body surveillance, body shame and appearance control beliefs) were calculated to be 0.71, 0.78, 0.75 and 0.65, respectively. Also, the reliability coefficients of the OBCS were obtained by Half-Split method (Spearman-Brown and Guttman) 0.50 and for its factors (body surveillance, body shame and appearance control beliefs) in the range of 0.65 to 0.71, and by retest method 0.79 and for its factors (body surveillance, body shame and appearance control beliefs) 0.83, 0.66, and 0.63 respectively after four weeks. The results indicate that the OBCS in Iran has a good validity and reliability.