Background
Coulrophobia, or the specific phobia of clowns, is characterized by marked and persistent fear that is disproportionate to actual threat, often accompanied by autonomic arousal, avoidance behavior, and anticipatory anxiety. As with other specific phobias, presentations range from mild discomfort to clinically significant impairment involving panic-like symptoms and intrusive ideation.
The Coulrophobia Severity Scale (CSS) was developed to provide a brief, accessible self-report measure of coulrophobic symptom severity. The instrument consists of 14 items rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = Never, 5 = Always), yielding a total score range of 14–70, with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity.
Item content was written in plain, non-technical language to reduce comprehension burden and support use across a broad range of respondents, including non-clinical and educational settings. Mean completion time is under three minutes.
Factor Structure
The CSS was constructed around two conceptually distinct subscales:
Emotional and Somatic Reactivity — items assessing affective and physiological fear responses (e.g., racing heart, panic, dread) elicited by clown-related stimuli.
Avoidance and Cognitive Intrusion — items assessing behavioral avoidance and persistent, unwanted thoughts related to clowns.
This two-factor structure allows for differentiation between reactive fear responses and the cognitive-behavioral maintenance patterns typically associated with phobic disorders.
Participation
This scale is suitable for children, teenagers, and adults due to its simple language. It is used for personal screening, educational exercises, and research studies, but is not a professional diagnostic tool.
Scoring & Interpretation
The scale consists of 14 items evaluated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Never to 5 = Always). Item 12 is reverse-scored to control for response bias.
The items are split into two subscales:
Emotional & Somatic Reactivity: items 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13 (raw score range 7–35)
Avoidance & Cognitive Intrusion: items 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14 (raw score range 7–35)
The total score is calculated by summing all 14 processed items, yielding a raw score range of 14 to 70. Subscale scores are converted to a standardized 0–100 scale for easier interpretation.
Coulrophobia Severity Scale (CSS) Questionnaire
Below is the Coulrophobia Severity Scale (CSS), a digitally adapted 14- items self-assessment questionnaire. Select the response that best describes your typical thoughts and physical feelings when thinking about or seeing clowns. Please answer as honestly as possible.