ABSTRACT
As is the case for most research data that psychologists amass, the bulk of studies using the SSS have utilized the convenient subject pool of undergraduate psychology students. There is some advantage to this strategy, since it generally provides willing, interested, literate volunteers, although some disillusioned academics might argue with one or more of these adjectives. At the same time, this ethnocentric focus does limit the generalizability of the findings. This is a particular vulnerability for measures of personality where social background and similar variables may limit a test's usefulness beyond the population on which it was standardized. When differences are found between different normal groups, we cannot be sure whether they represent real differences in the hypothetical trait or artifacts due to the influence of social background on interpretation of items. This was one reason that we went to some lengths to develop scales where the factor structure was similar between the sexes and at least two national groups (Form V). This chapter presents the normal population differences that have been found on the SSS forms, with some speculation on the sources of these differences. The demographic variables discussed include age, sex, national-cultural, U.S. regional, racial, and educational differences.
