Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory (Zimmer-Gembeck, 2020)

• Populations: Adolescents, Young Adults
• Age ranges: 16-20, 17-22
• Languages: English
• Countries: Australia

Items

Subscales

• Sexual Self-Esteem, 5 Items;
• Entitlement to Self-Pleasure, 3 Items;
• Entitlement to Pleasure from a Partner, 4 Items; 
• Self-Efficacy in Desire and Pleasure, 3 Items;
• Sexual Self-Reflection, 5 Items

Items by Subscale:

Sexual Self Esteem

• It bothers me that I’m not better looking.*
• I worry that I am not sexually desirable to others.*
• Physically, I am an attractive person. 
• I am confident that a romantic partner would find me sexually attractive.
• I am confident that others will find me sexually desirable. 

Entitlement to Self-Pleasure

• It is okay for me to meet my own sexual needs through self-masturbation.
• I believe self-masturbating can be an exciting experience. 
• I believe self-masturbation is wrong.* 

Entitlement to Pleasure from a Partner

• If a partner were to ignore my sexual needs and desires, I’d feel hurt.
• It would bother me if a sexual partner neglected my sexual needs and desires.
• I would expect a sexual partner to be responsive to my sexual needs and feelings.
• I think it is important for a sexual partner to consider my sexual pleasure.

Self-Efficacy in Desire and Pleasure

• I would not hesitate to ask for what I want sexually from a romantic partner.
• I am able to ask a partner to provide the sexual stimulation I need.
• If I were to have sex with someone, I’d show my partner what I want.

Sexual Self Reflection

• I spend time thinking and reflecting about my sexual experiences.
• I rarely think about the sexual aspects of my life.*
• I think about my sexuality. 
• I don’t think about my sexual behavior very much.*
• My sexual behavior and experiences are not something I spend time thinking about.*

Responses

Items used a 5 option ordinal rating scale, Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Disagree or Agree, Agree, Strongly Agree.

Scoring

“Items on the five subscales for the FSSI and the MSSI are averaged to form total scores. Some items are reverse scored. Higher scores indicate greater endorsement of positive esteem, feelings of entitlement, feelings of efficacy, and self-reflection. It is acceptable to select only some subscales for use.” 

Citations

• Horne, S., & Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J. (2006). The Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory: Development and validation of an instrument for late adolescents and emerging adults. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00276.x
• Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., See, L., & O’Sullivan, L. (2015). Young women’s satisfaction with sex and romance, and emotional reactions to sex: Associations with sexual entitlement, efficacy, and situational factors. Emerging Adulthood, 3, 113–122. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696814548060
• Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J. (2020). Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory and Male Sexual Subjectivity Inventory. In R. R. Milhausen, J. K. Sakaluk, T. D. Fischer, C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures, 4th edition (561-565). Routledge.