The Judgmental Self-Doubt Scale (JSDS) is a 19-item scale that is an individual difference measure of generalized mistrust of one’s judgment.
Geographies Tested: United States of America
Populations Included: Female, Male
Age Range: Adolescents, Adults
1. I have difficulty making decisions.
2. I have a tendency to change my mind according to the last opinion I hear.
3. After deciding something, I tend to worry about whether my decision was wrong.
4. I frequently find myself afraid of not doing the right thing.
5. I often have the sense that others know better than I do.
6. Often I put off making difficult decisions.
7. I often don’t trust myself to make the right decision.
8. I often trust the judgment of others more than my own.
9. My judgments about situations often turn out to be mistaken.
10. I often worry about whether a decision I made will have bad consequences.
11. In making a decision, I often tire myself out by switching back and forth from one conclusion to another.
12. I am inclined to have trouble knowing where to stand on an issue.
13. When making a decision, I often feel confused because I have trouble keeping all relevant factors in mind.
14. In almost all situations I am confident of my ability to make the right choices.*
15. I often don’t know what to feel or believe.
16. I wish I were more confident in my opinions.
17. Many times I don’t know what to do next.
18. I have a great deal of confidence in my opinions.*
19. Frequently, I doubt my ability to make sound judgments.
*Items reverse coded
Response Options:
6-point Likert scale
Strongly disagree - -3
Strongly agree - 3
The mean of all items is computed for a summative score. Higher scores indicate more doubt in the respondent's confidence in their own ability to make accurate judgements or correct decisions.
Mirels, H. L., Greblo, P., & Dean, J. B. (2002). Judgmental self-doubt: Beliefs about one’s judgmental prowess. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 741-758. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00189-1
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