Universal Worth: Construct and Scale Development

Abstract

Although research has demonstrated that narcissistic, contingent, and unsubstantiated forms of self-esteem correlate with undesirable behavior patterns, other researchers have searched for prosocial forms of belief in one's worth. Universal worth is proposed as the belief that (a) one is valued by a deity; (b) one's value is not contingent on success or failure; and (c) one is not valued by a deity more or less than others are valued. The Universal Worth Scale (UWS) was developed to measure this set of beliefs. Psychometric analyses showed that UWS scores were both internally consistent and temporally stable. Although scores on this scale were correlated with measures of constructs that were expected to be associated, the pattern of correlations suggests that UWS scores measure a distinct construct. Future research is suggested to explore universal worth in relation to sociometer theory and terror management theory, and within the continued search for prosocial foundations of self-worth.

Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Chelsea Bayley, Matt Ferro, Krista Freidman, Alexandra Harding, Rachel Shipp, Alexa Steele, Kayla Troop, Demi Williams, and Bobbi Walker for their involvement in item creation, item evaluation, and data entry.

Notes

The online clearinghouses used were http://psych.hanover.edu/Research/exponnet.html, http://www.socialpsychology.org/expts.htm, http://www.in-mind.org/online-research/index.php, and http://irbapproved.blogspot.com.