Purpose

The Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS) was developed to assess the extent to which an individual responds to threatening or stressful situations either by seeking information (Monitoring) or by avoiding it (Blunting). This distinction is important for understanding how individuals cope with stress and perceived threats.

Brief Description

The scale includes four hypothetical scenarios in which a person might find themselves. Each scenario is followed by possible hypothetical reactions that represent theoretical response patterns. Participants are asked to indicate which of these reactions reflect their own behavior by selecting from the options provided. Half of the reactions represent a tendency to seek information (Monitoring), while the other half reflect a tendency to avoid information (Blunting).

Sample

The scale was administered to a sample of 284 individuals, 177 of whom were university students. Of the total sample, 63% were women and 37% were men, providing a relatively balanced gender distribution for the validation of the scale.

Scoring Method

The scale provides two main scores: one for the general tendency to seek information (Monitoring), calculated by summing the number of monitoring-type responses selected, and another for the general tendency to avoid information (Blunting), based on the number of blunting-type responses selected. In addition, it is possible to obtain separate scores for each scenario, allowing a more detailed analysis of behavior in different contexts.

Validity

The correlations of the two subscales with other variables indicate that they have adequate construct validity, supporting the theoretical foundation and empirical applicability of the scale.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the scale is satisfactory, as shown by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.86 for the Monitoring subscale and 0.81 for the Blunting subscale, confirming the tool’s reliability.

Key References

The adaptation and study of the scale in the Greek context were documented by V. Grylli (1999), who examined its relationship with psychological mood, coping strategies for anxiety, and creative parameters. I. Koutri (2002) explored the ability to differentiate and its relationship with psychological distress. The original development of the scale was by S. M. Miller (1987), who validated a questionnaire designed to assess styles of information-seeking in situations involving threat.