Further Validation of a US Adult Social Self-Efficacy Inventory in Chinese Populations

The authors report further validity evidence for the Chinese version of a U.S. adult social self-efficacy inventory, the "Perceived Social Self-Efficacy" (PSSE) scale in Chinese populations. Study 1 participants were 323 new graduate students enrolled at a large university in an east coast city of the People's Republic of China. Differential item functioning analysis indicated that the internal structure of the Chinese PSSE scale was invariant over individuals with different levels of respect for authority. Study 2 participants were 204 undergraduate students enrolled at a medium-sized university in the southeast region of China. Chinese PSSE scores were significantly related to scores in the three components of subjective well-being: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Personal self-esteem and two collective self-esteem dimensions were found to mediate the above relationships.