Validation of the Dispositional Self-Affirmation Measure. A German Measure of Self-Affirmation

To date, no German scale has captured dispositional self-affirmation. The present study serves to validate a German version of the Spontaneous Self-Affirmation Measure (Harris et al., 2019): Das Dispositionale Selbstaffirmationsma ss (DSAM). To this end, we conducted a cross-sectional study with German university students (N = 219) and subsequent study with a working sample (N = 229). The results of both studies indicate a high reliability of the scale and suggest (1) that the scale is based on a bifactor S-1 structure with a self-affirmation general factor and two specific content factors (affirmation through strengths and affirmation through social relationships); and (2) that the manifest and latent correlations of the DSAM with other self-enhancement strategies, with self-integrity and self-efficacy, speak for the convergent and divergent validity of the scale. However, contrary to expectations, we found no significant manifest or latent correlation between the DSAM and defensiveness. Nevertheless, the DSAM is the first validated measurement instrument for assessing dispositional self-affirmation in a German-speaking sample.