Cardona, Harold
Lingan, Jillian
Ong, Angela
Ramos, Joanna
PATIENCE SCALE
Conceptual Definition:
Patience is a virtuous behavior characterized by the person’s ability to in accept or tolerate the
delays of something irritating. It is defined as one’s capacity to handle life challenges – the daily hassles
and other obstacles in life, being able to deal with the demands and failings of other people and the need to
have self-composure in times of annoying situations.
Review of Related Literature:
The Latin root of patience is “pati”, which means to suffer, endure, and bear. Patience can be
defined as a person’s ability to wait in a calm manner despite significant distresses and obstacles. To simply
define it, patience is that it is an act of waiting (O’Malley, Davies, & Cline, 2010). Developing patience in
important in ensuring a good life.
Patience is not directly studied in literatures. Although patience is a well-known virtue little to no
attention is given to the psychological aspect of patience in studies (Dudley, 2003 & Lavelock, 2015). Cross
cultural studies were also not studied even though the virtue is practiced across the world (Guss et. al, 2018).
Ro (2014) revealed that the virtue of patience is not only relevant but is also applicable to well-being in
clinical populations. Both trait patience and patience enacted on goals predicted increased goal effort,
progress, and satisfaction, controlling for Big Five personality traits (Schnitker, 2003). Patience enacted on
a goal predicted increased in satisfaction two weeks later controlling for variance shared at the same
timepoint.
Scales that measure patience are few. It has only recently attracted attention as a research topic in
psychology (Bulbul & Izgur, 2017). Schnitker (2012) developed the 3-factor patience questionnaire and
categorized patience into three: interpersonal patience, daily hassles patience and life hardship patience.
These categories measure both the behavioral and emotional responses to patience. A person’s perspective
towards patience, motivation, and relationship with others affects the behavior of people towards patience
and achieving the goal (Avci, 2013). Dudley (2003) developed a more in-depth scale of patience with 6
factors: Postponement, Even-tempered, Composure, Time Abundance, Tolerance, and limits of patience.
The scale has seen seldom use as few studies regarding patience are conducted.
Uniqueness of the test: The test measures patience towards others, patience towards life challenges and
self-composedness which is unique because most of the current scales of patience only measure patience
towards other people and not self-composure and patience towards life challenges.
Target Number of Items: The target items for this test is 30 (10 items for each domain)
Theory:
Self-determination is not only determined by society norms, group pressure it is rather determined
of one's own personal beliefs and value judgments producing its decisions on its own (Deci & Ryan). It
explains the difference between an individual’s freedoms of action or the need to do it because he feels
compelled or forced (Krapp).
Self-determination theory are defined as innate psychological needs (Deci & Ryan). The basic
psychological needs mentioned in the self-determination theory in which necessary for personal growth,
integration and subjective well-being (Ryan & Brown). Also, the need necessary is for survival,
development and health (Kasser & Ryan). The diversity of satisfaction of one’s needs important for one's
self-motivation, adaptation and integration (Deci & Ryan).
The theory contains altogether the positive effects about conceptual learning, emotional state and
self-esteem (Deci, Connell & Ryan). Free will were act, their behavior will be a result of personal freedom
and autonomy (Whetten & Cameron).
Patience and self-determination (Blount & Janicik) are mentioning three mechanisms in
understanding patience behavior, namely; frustration-regression, self-regulation and temporal sacrifice.
In this period, motivation can be defined as the power that moves the person towards his/her needs.
If the person directs behaviors with this/her own desires and needs, it’s called intrinsic motivation; if it’s
the request of others or if it’s directed by pressure, is referred to external motivation (Deci & Ryan).
Internal Motivation a tendency to assimilate, to provide sincere interest, research, discovery and
personal pleasure and External Motivation a type of motivation that is less effective than internal motivation
in self-determination theory is external motivation (Ryan, Deci 2000). Exterior motivation includes
qualities such as avoidance from punishment and draw close to a more tangible outcome. It can be described
as a form of bail payment (Noels, Pelletier, Clément & Vallerand).
İf persons do not see any relationship between their individual behaviors and the outcome of their
behaviors, or if they do not have any motivation source to internalize or externalize their behavior, it can
be called amotivation (Poulsen, Rodger, Ziviani & Jenny).
Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are highly influential determinants of our behavior, and both
drive us to meet the three basic needs.
Autonomy: people have a need to feel that they are in control of their own behavior.
Competence: people have a need to build their competence and develop mastery over tasks that are
important to them.
Relatedness (also called Connection): people need to have a sense of belonging and connectedness with
others (Deci & Ryan, 2008).
According Deci and Richard M. Ryan, individual differences in personality result from the varying
degrees to which each need has been satisfied (2008).
Procedure in administering the test:
1. The test papers will be handed one by one to the test takers by the assigned test administrator
2. After distributing the papers, the test administrator will start to give instructions to the test takers
including the number of test items, how to answer the test, and the expected time of completion of
the test (which is limited only to 20 minutes)
3. The test administrator will tell the test takers to start answering the test
4. After 20 minutes, the test administrator will collect the test papers from the test takers
Script for Test Administration:
Test Administrator: Good day students! I am (Name of Test Administrator) , a
Registered Psychometrician. I will be your test administrator for today. I will be administering a trait test
for Patience. As your administrator for this test, I will be here until all of you are done answering the test.
You only have 20 minutes to answer the test. If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to raise your
hand and I will try to accommodate your questions. Your test answers and scores will not be revealed as it
will remain confidential.
[Distribution of Papers]
Test Administrator: Please, don’t open or read your test papers until I say so
[After the test distribution]
Test Administrator: Open your test papers. Before answering, kindly fill up first your personal information
provided at the upper part of your test papers.
[When the test takers are done writing their personal information]
Test Administrator: I will read the instructions. The test handed to you is a 30-item test consisting of
statements related to your patience. Indicate how much you agree in each statements by putting a check
mark on the column that best corresponds to your answer. Answers are in a form of 5 point Likert scale; 1
indicates strongly disagree, 2 for disagree, 3 if neutral, 4 if you agree, and 5 if you strongly agree in the
statement. Read each items carefully and please be honest with your answers. Once you are finish, do not
pass yet your test papers. I will collect the papers after 20 minutes. You may now start the test.
[After 15 minutes]
Test Administrator: You only have 5 minutes to finish the test
[After 20 minutes]
Test Administrator: I will now collect your papers
[After collecting the papers]
Test Administrator: Thank you for your cooperation in today’s test. Have a good day!
---------------------------------------- END OF SCRIPT ----------------------------------------
Time for test administration: The allotted time for the completion of the test is approximately 20 minutes
Target population: 30 BS Education Students in DLSAU
Age bracket: 18-25 years old
Conceptual Framework:
PATIENCE
Towards life Self-composedness
Towards others
challenges
Sub-domain 1:
PATIENCE TOWARDS OTHERS
Definition: This domain pertains to patience in relation to other people. This can be with peers, family,
colleagues or with strangers. Patience in this domain is characterized by dealing with the persons’ annoying
behavior or trait be it in a calm way or the upsetting approach.
RRL:
Patience towards others is adapted from Schnitker’s 3 factor model of patience. One of the factor
discussed by Schnitker (2012) in her model of patience includes interpersonal patience or the patience
which involves dealing with other people’s demands and failings.
Practicing patience towards others keep one’s sanity and relatively gives benefit on a daily basis. Taking
things at pace leads one to be more satisfied with life, become happier, calmer, and keep moving forward
in a positive manner (Johnen, 2018). Added by Johnen, understanding the feelings of other people helps in
dealing with other people’s actions.
Sicinski (2008), emphasized that acquiring patience improves and strengthen relationships with other
people because patience brings people closer together for a common goal and purpose. It is no doubt that
dealing with other people takes a lot of patience. At times people could be impatient that they say something
insensitive or act consequently in a particular situation. Being more sensitive and aware of what other
people are going through gives a clarity and a deeper understanding of the happenings around. This likely
results to having compassion and empathy towards other people.
Item Accept Reject Revise
1 When in a family gathering, I intend to prepare
later than everyone else so my waiting time
before leaving is shorter than everybody else
2 I intentionally go to my classes the exact time or
later because I can’t stand waiting
3 I hate slow walkers
4 I don’t like to wait in line
5 I often feel like other people are going too slow
6 I cannot tolerate children who run around and
disturb me
7 I get irritated if I had to repeat what I have just
said
8 I often lose my attention when people are talking
for too long
9 Whenever in line, I always wait for my turn
10 I get easily upset when things go well as planned
11 I get upset when others are taking too long in
using the restroom
12 I easily get annoyed when my classmates are
being too noisy
13 When I am angry, I tend to displace my anger to
whoever or whatever I see
14 I get dismayed whenever someone gets me to wait
for too long
15 I patiently wait for someone even if it’s an hour
late
16 I would rather go home than listen to a dull
speaker
17 In situations where little children cry for no
apparent reason, I get easily irritated
18 I get easily annoyed when someone comes late at
our meeting place.
19
20
Sub-domain 2:
PATIENCE TOWARDS LIFE CHALLENGES
Definition: This domain is composed of items regarding serious obstacles in life. This involves everyday
frustrations with in delays, and tolerance with the daily hassles of life.
RRL:
Patience towards life challenges is adapted from Schnitker’s 3 factor model of patience. This is
originally termed by Schnitker (2012) as life hardship patience. Schnitker identified life hardships and daily
hassles as facets to patience. Life hardships include temporary feelings of frustration like waiting in line.
Life hardship on the other hand is a long-term version of daily hassles which involves calm endurance
through difficult situations of life such as illness or loss.
According to Jantz (2017), patience is wise response to life. Igarashi [Link] (2018) studied the link
between life challenges and wisdom. Their findings revealed that life is not about surviving hard times, it
is also about how a person deal with the difficulties and how are they able to learn from their experiences.
Added further by Igarashi and his colleagues, difficult times are way how people define themselves. In
general, people who work things out after experiencing a difficult life event are those who find a new
meaning in life.
When frustration comes through life challenges, one must come up with ways to overcome these
obstacles. Patience is not intended for giving in or up but it teaches people to keep moving forward (Johnen,
2018).
Item Accept Reject Revise
1 I give up easily If I fail.
2 I feel like I have too much things to do but little
time to accomplish it.
3 When faced with challenges, I take my time to
decide on the right action.
4 I try to accomplish task even If It takes too long.
5 I feel like I can face any challenge by remaining
patient.
6 I tend to give up whenever I face problems that I
think I can’t pass through.
7 When I’m having a hard time commuting, I think
of an alternate route for me to get home
immediately.
8 I patiently wait for long lines in jeepney/bus
terminals and train stations.
9 I cannot endure a noisy and messy environment.
10 I easily quit when I’m tired dealing with all the
problems I am experiencing.
11 I usually have short tolerance, whenever my
schedule didn’t go as planned because of
unwanted errands.
12 If I wanted to do something, I usually start in big
details and proceed to small details.
13 I’m usually short tempered when I don’t easily
progression of the song or get the chord.
14 I hate it when I have to repeat myself all over
again.
15 When someone is taking their time on the cubicle,
and there’s a long queue, I usually think of things
and not get upset.
16
17
18
19
20
Sub-domain 3:
SELF-COMPOSEDNESS
Definition: This domain indicates the individual’s tendency to composed himself when angry. This is
tendency of an individual to control and maintain his emotions and stay calm in dealing with uncomfortable
or annoying circumstances.
RRL:
Self-composedness is adapted from Dudley’s one of the six factors of patience – composure (Dudley,
2003). The composure factor identified by Dudley is characterized by an individual not being over-
burdened, who is able to stay cool, calm, and collected when angry or in the face of other difficulties.
Accepting and tolerating a situation without getting mad or dismayed is one of the components in the
definition of patience. This helps an individual to separate the feeling of anger from doing a behavior out
of anger (Barbian, 2017). Johnen (2018) expressed that patience is essential in daily life. Without patience,
a person will be constantly display emotions of being annoyed, frustrated, angry, or upset, may exhibit
behaviors of giving up too early or quitting something.
In a study of Schnitker (2012), it was showed that patient people are less depressed and are less likely
to have negative emotions. This is due to their capacity to cope with stressful situations. Patience allows
one to have peace of mind, essential to a happy and stress-free life. Added further by Schnitker, practicing
patience in all life situation results to positive benefits. Schnitker & Emmons (2007) located a fine
relationship between patience and well-being. Peterson & Seligman (2001) referred to that patience is
associated with effective social traits and virtues, and that patient men and women showcase a more
empathetic and greater vigorous attitude. İt used to be viewed in an experimental study of Schnitker, 2010
that there is a high quality relation between patience and between optimism and hope. Ryan & Deci (2000)
argue that patience has accelerated eudamonic well-being. According to Kahneman, Diener & Schwartz
(1999), when searching at the relationship between eudamonic well-being and patience; there was an
amplify in eudamonic well-being, which confirmed that the persistence do increase satisfaction with high-
quality emotions. Patience ought to be viewed as a coping tool for the prolong of goals or plausible failure.
Schnitker (2010) determined a very high correlation between patience and well-being. Even after character
check; it was seen that patience can effect depression, lifestyles satisfaction and happiness.
According to Caldwell and Long , patience requires both perspective and humility, mainly when we
are inclined to take motion and are seeking for an effect that is beyond our control to at once achieve.
Whether patience is required in enhancing a personal relationship, in developing a favored capability, or
in pursuing an organizational goal, it can be challenging to manipulate our feelings and continue to be
productive and positive whilst waiting.
Item Accept Reject Revise
1 I frequently switch-waiting lines in front of
counters.
2 It is difficult for me to listen to lessons which
does not concern me thus fits my interests.
3 I like to decide spontaneously.
4 I like to decide meticulously.
5 When watching a movie, I skip it when I feel like
it has a boring plot.
6 I have difficulty controlling my emotions.
7 I stay calm and composed when faced with
pressure.
8 I consider myself as a patient person.
9 I console myself when pressured.
10 I get anxious when things don’t go as planned.
11 Whenever my groupmates are being too
irresponsible, I tend to be angry but I keep it to
myself.
12 When I lose my patience, I tend to act normal in
front of people.
13 When someone is having difficulty
comprehending the topic, I will be able to help
them.
14 Although it’s annoying, I always get by the
traffic.
15 I’m always patient around people.
16 I often get bored whenever waiting in a queue.
17 I lose temper when people talk slowly.
18 I willingly help my classmates in catching up for
the lectures they missed even If it annoys me that
I have to repeat every detail of what I am saying
just to make them understand the lesson.
19 I try to stay calm in situations that are too difficult
for me to endure.
20 Every time I’m in uncomfortable situations, I
practice myself to stay composed.
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O’Malley, K., Davies, A., & Cline, T. W. (2010). Do psychological cues alter our discount function?
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