AUTHOR=Rader Lena , Gauggel Siegfried , Drueke Barbara , Weise Lorenz , Forster Saskia Doreen , Mainz Verena 

TITLE=Internal and external self-affirmation resources: validation and assessment of psychometric properties of the spontaneous self-affirmation measure using structural equation modeling

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1217416

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1217416

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Introduction</title><p>People use coping strategies such as self-affirmation to manage threats to their self-esteem. In empirical research, self-affirmation often involves recalling personal values, strengths, or relationships to restore moral integrity. Research shows it improves attitude adjustment, resolves cognitive dissonance, and enhances well-being. Some studies stress the importance of distinguishing between different aspects of self-affirmation, like strengths or social relations. These aspects align with concepts in psychotherapy that differentiate between internal and external resource activation, benefiting health, self-esteem, and resilience. The aim of the current study was twofold: first, to independently test the three-factor structure of the Spontaneous Self-affirmation Measure (SSAM), and second, to integrate self-affirmation strategies into a broader resource activation framework as resilience factors. It also examined associations with self-esteem and effects of age, gender, and education on spontaneous self-affirmation.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>1,100 participants (72% female, age 18–65) were recruited online. The original three-factor structure of the SSAM (with the factors <italic>Strengths</italic>, <italic>Values</italic> and <italic>Social relations</italic>) was examined using structural equation modeling. Further, a theory driven two-factor structure applying an internal and external resources framework was examined, integrating the factors of the SSAM into the taxonomy of resource activation (<italic>Internal resources: Strengths and Values; External resources: Social relations</italic>).</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>The results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that both the original three-factor structure and the complementary two-factor structure with an <italic>Internal resources</italic> and <italic>External resources</italic> factor fit the data appropriately. All three factors of the original factor model showed a high reliability (<italic>Strengths</italic>: <inline-formula><mml:math id="M1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>ω</mml:mi><mml:mi>t</mml:mi></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> = 0.91, <italic>Values</italic>: <inline-formula><mml:math id="M2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>ω</mml:mi><mml:mi>t</mml:mi></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> = 0.91, <italic>Social relations</italic>: <inline-formula><mml:math id="M3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>ω</mml:mi><mml:mi>t</mml:mi></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> = 0.92). We also found measurement invariance across age, gender, and education. Furthermore, group differences regarding gender, education and ethnicity in the utilization of spontaneous self-affirmation strategies were apparent. Finally, it was demonstrated that the <italic>Internal resources</italic> factor of the complementary two-factor model is significantly more strongly correlated with self-esteem than the <italic>External Resources</italic> factor [<italic>z</italic> = 12.80, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001, 95%CIdiff (0.24, 0.33)].</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Discussion</title><p>The study confirms the validity of both the three-factor and two-factor structures of the SSAM. Integrating self-affirmation into the resource activation framework may facilitate applying findings from self-affirmation studies to clinical contexts.</p></sec>