The subjective assessment of the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia): French adaptation of the GELOPH<15> questionnaire

This paper describes the adaptation of the French version of the GELOPH < 15 >, a short questionnaire (15 items) that measures the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia). The first empirical studies revealed that gelotophobia is a valid and useful new concept that should be interpreted as an individual differences phenomenon within the range of normality. Prior studies suggested that the GELOPH < 15 > is reliable, and showed a one-dimensional factor solution. In order to test psychometric properties of the French version, N=218 participants from the French part of Switzerland and N=245 participants from Quebec (French Canada) took the test. One item that yielded a particularly high endorsement pertained to the interpretation of others' laughter as being laughter at oneself (Switzerland); another item with the same result reflected how unease experienced while dancing is due to the conviction that one is being assessed negatively by others (Quebec). The fear of being laughed at was independent of the participants' age, sex or marital status. Additionally, the mean gelotophobia scores in the French Canadian and Swiss samples did not differ from each other. The French version of the GELOPH < 15 > provides a useful and reliable instrument for the subjective assessment of gelotophobia in French-speaking countries. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.