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METHOD
Participants
Student sample
One-hundred and forty-five students, from UWE and the surrounding area, aged between 18
and 57 years old, completed the questionnaire packs (107 female, 38 male, mean age = 22
years old). Ninety-eight percent identified themselves as being heterosexual and the majority
described themselves as being ‘white British’ (89%). The majority of the sample (60%)
described themselves as being in an “exclusive relationship but not living together”, reflecting
the age and lifestyle of the majority of the respondents.
Clinic sample
Forty-one patients of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery department of the Royal Free
Hospital, London, completed the above measures. There was an even split between men and
women (20:21 female-male ratio) aged between 19 and 51 years old (mean = 35 years old).
Eighty percent described themselves as ‘white British’ and the majority identified themselves as
being heterosexual (93%) and “single” (70%). The mean length of time since their last
relationship was 4 months.
Materials
The questions in the scale were drafted by the research team on the basis of research, relevant
scales and data from clinical interventions and further developed through discussions with
members of the advisory panel. The scale aimed to measure a range of intimate behaviours and
was designed to be used in clinical practice or research to gauge the impact of appearance on
engagement in these behaviours.
Example question:
I feel uncomfortable hugging or being physically close to other people because of my
appearance.
Several measures were filled in by participants alongside the new 12 item Intimacy scale (Royal
Free & Centre for Appearance Research Intimacy Scale (RoFCAR)) for validation on a student
sample.
Scales included in pack for the student sample:
• The full Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships scale (PAIR; Olson &
Schaefer, 2000) which assesses emotional, social, sexual, intellectual and
recreational intimacy.
• Emotional/Social loneliness and isolation was measured using the Emotional-
Social Loneliness Inventory (ESLI; Vincenze & Grabosky, 1987).
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