Purpose

The purpose of this scale is to measure cynicism and hostility—two psychological traits associated with negative attitudes toward other people, heightened suspicion, and a tendency to interpret others’ motives in a negative light. These traits have been linked to problems in interpersonal relationships and to negative impacts on both mental and physical health.

Brief Description

The Cynical Distrust Scale is an adaptation of a subscale from the well-known Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). It consists of 8 statements to which individuals respond based on their degree of agreement. The scale was officially translated into Greek with permission from the original authors. The translation process included back-translation and the involvement of four experienced bilingual translators to ensure conceptual equivalence with the original version.

Sample

The Greek version of the scale was administered to a sample of 375 individuals, consisting of 175 university students and 200 public employees. Of the total sample, 35.2% were male and 64.8% female, with a mean age of 31.7 years. The student sample was drawn from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of Macedonia, while the public employees mainly came from services in the prefectures of Kavala and Katerini. The scale was used as part of a broader study on hostility, aggression, and interpersonal attitudes.

Scoring Method

Participants are asked to respond to the 8 statements using a five-point Likert scale, where 1 corresponds to “Strongly disagree” and 5 to “Strongly agree.” There are no reverse-coded items. The total score is calculated by summing the responses (range: 8 to 40), with higher scores indicating higher levels of cynicism and hostility.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the Greek version of the scale was found to be satisfactory, with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.67. Although this value is considered moderate, it is acceptable for research purposes, particularly in brief scales.

Main Bibliographic Source

Greenglass, E., & Julkunen, J. (1991). Cook Medley hostility, anger and the type A behavior pattern in Finland. Psychological Reports, 68, 1051–1066.