It's All About Power: Validation of Trait and State Versions of the German Personal Sense of Power Scale

Abstract

The present research was aimed at providing a German version of the Personal Sense of Power Scale (GPSPS; Anderson et al., 2012) and testing its psychometric properties. A personal sense of power describes the perception of one's ability to influence others. Probably every human relationship can be characterized by differences in power, which means that the measurement of experienced power is highly relevant. The availability of appropriate measures in different languages will help improve research and cross-cultural comparisons. Five studies were conducted. Internal consistency was high across all studies. Stability across 6 and 12 weeks was also high. A good fit was observed for a 6-item unidimensional version. Correlations with a variety of psychological and sociodemographic variables were in the expected directions, supporting nomological and criterion validity (Study 1). Measurement invariance across gender was demonstrated. In support of construct validity, a clinical sample scored significantly lower than others. Finally, two studies showed the sensitivity of a state version of the scale. We encourage researchers to use this scale as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing trait and state power.