Gelotophobia in the Lebanon: The Arabic Version of a Questionnaire for the Subjective Assessment of the Fear of Being Laughed at
Author: Kazarian, S., Ruch, W., & Proyer, R. T.
Source:
Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 20(1), 42-56
Abstract: Objectives: Gelotophobia, a new clinical construct, is defined as the fear of being laughed at and ridiculed and is measured by the GELOPH<15> scale. The present study describes adaptation of the English version of GELOPH <15> to Arabic, using back-translation methodology, and its validatiioiin in the Lebanese context. Method: The Arabic GELOPH <15> is admistered to a group of Lebanese university students (n=198) to assess its factor structure and to a second group of 60 university students to assess its relationship to the Arabic Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ), the Arabic Center of Epidimiology Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale, the Arabic Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWL). Results: The findings support the internal consistency of the scale and its factor structure as a one-dimensional individual differences phenomenon. The findings also elucidated the relationship of the Arabic GELOPH<15>, and to life satisfaction as assessed by the Arabic Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWL). Conculsion: Overall, the results suggest that the Arabic GELOPH<15> items are relevant in the Lebanese context, especially those that pertain to the intention of controlling oneself strongly and disengagement from social activities for self-protection fro derision. As importantly, the findings are suggestive that approximately 7% of the scores exceed a cut-off point of >_ 2.50, indicative of at least a slight expression of gelotophobic symptoms.