Sex differences in assetiveness on the U.S. version of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (SIB)

The present study describes the first experience in the U.S.A. with the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (SIB), a multidimensional self-report measure of difficulty and distress in assertiveness originally devised in the Netherlands. The U.S. SIB was administered to 548 undergraduate students and analyses focused on determining several of its reliability aspects and sex differences in assertiveness. Reliability figures were very encouraging. The majority of the 10 SIB dimensions showed no meaningful sex differences that had important practical, normative implications. However, future normative studies with the SIB in North America should take into account the fact that female students are more assertive (i.e. show less behavioral avoidance) than their male counterparts when expressing and dealing with personal limitations, whereas male students are more assertive (i.e. experience less distress) than female students when displaying negative assertion.