Reliability and Factorial Validity of the Core Self-Evaluations Scale: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Wording Effects

Abstract

The Core Self-Evaluations Scale (CSES) measures a broad personality trait reflecting individuals self-appraisals of their worth, capabilities, and control of their lives. Although the CSES was designed to capture a single trait, factor analytic studies often found more complex measurement structures. These either referred to different content facets or methodological artifacts due to the item wording. The present random-effects meta-analysis summarized correlation matrices from 53 samples including 31,843 respondents. After accounting for acquiescent responding, meta-analytic confirmatory factor analyses revealed a single common factor for all items. The factor was highly reliable (? = .87) and demonstrated partial metric measurement invariance across English, German, and Spanish language versions as well as cultural tendencies of individualism and flexibility. However, Chinese and Romanian translations exhibited substantially lower factor loadings. These results corroborate the use of the CSES as a unidimensional measure, albeit systematic investigations of measurement invariance are recommended before its use in cross-cultural research.