Personal growth initiative’s relation to life meaning and satisfaction in a polish sample

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and validate a Polish version of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale - II (PGIS-II; Robitschek et al. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(2), 274–287, 2012). The PGIS-II assesses skills for intentional cognitive, behavioral, or affective change in one’s life. These skills may promote positive mental health (Robitschek and Hershberger Journal of Counseling & Development, 83(4), 457–469, 2005) that could benefit Polish individuals following cultural and political transformation since the late 1980’s when Poland regained sovereignty from communism (Muszczynski 2015). The second aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that Personal Growth Initiative (Robitschek Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 30, 183–198, 1998, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 31, 197–210, 1999) may be related to life satisfaction indirectly via presence of meaning in life. Participants were 530 Polish citizens (65.1% female) aged 15–84. Participants completed the PGIS-II (Polish version) and measures to assess construct validity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a 4-factor structure similar to the original PGIS-II structure, with slight differences in item loadings. Internal consistency estimates for the scale and subscales were adequate to strong. PGIS-II (Polish version) scores correlated positively with measures of well-being, providing evidence for concurrent validity of the scale. There was a significant indirect effect of PGI’s relationship with life satisfaction via presence of meaning in life. The Polish version of the PGIS-II shows sound psychometric properties and may be used with Polish populations.