The Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale

The Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale (SSCS) aims to measure individual variability with regard to the propensity to become self-conscious in sexual situations. Self-focused attention has been found to have impeding effects on genital sexual responsiveness, presumably because it also reduces processing capacity (Meston, 2006). Experimentally induced self-focus was found to interact with the personality trait of sexual self-consciousness in their effect on genital arousal (Meston, 2006; van Lankveld & Bergh, 2008; van Lankveld, van den Hout, & Schouten, 2004). Subjective experience of sexual excitement was not affected in these studies. Sexual self-consciousness may thus constitute a vulnerability factor for the development of sexual dysfunction.