Psychometric properties of the French versions of the BIS/BAS scales and the SPSRQ Herve ´ Caci a, * , Olivier Deschaux b , Franck J. Bayle ´ c a Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, Ho ˆpital Archet 2, Service de Pe ´diatrie, 06202 Nice Cedex 3, France b Laboratoire de Neurobiologie and Psychopathologie, Parc Valrose, Faculte ´ des Sciences, Universite ´ de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France c Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne 7, rue Cabanis 75014 Paris, France Received 25 January 2006; received in revised form 21 July 2006; accepted 1 September 2006 Available online 24 October 2006 Abstract One of the most recurrent criticisms formulated against Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory is the lack of a sound structural model of the postulated dimensions, i.e. ‘Anxiety’ and ‘Impulsivity’ reflecting the behavioural inhibition and approach systems, respectively. Although valuable efforts have been made and several instruments been published in the past fifteen years, most of the publications conclude that refine- ments are needed. This is the first paper that presents the psychometric properties of the French version of Carver and White’s BIS/BAS scales and Torrubia et al.’s SPSRQ in a sample of students. The reliabilities and the pattern of scores intercorrelations are in line with the literature. For both instruments, exploratory factor analyses reveal a two-order structure with higher-order factors representing BIS-SP and BAS-SR. The structure of the primary factors is discussed with regards to studies in non-French speaking samples. These findings add to the cross-cultural data for the BIS/BAS scales and the SPSRQ, which is an under- estimated aspect of scales’ development. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Reward sensitivity theory; BIS; BAS; Sensivitity to punishment; Sensitivity to reward; Psychometric properties; Factor analysis; Cross-cultural 0191-8869/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2006.09.008 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 0 492039291; fax: +33 0 492036567. E-mail address: caci.h@chu-nice.fr (H. Caci). www.elsevier.com/locate/paid Personality and Individual Differences 42 (2007) 987–998