Psychometric evaluation of a Chinese translation of the relational and individual self-expansion scales

The self-expansion theory suggests that acquiring novel experiences, perspectives, and resources can expand people’s self-concepts (Aron & Aron, 1986). Many studies have demonstrated the implications of self-expansion for wellbeing in interpersonal and nonrelational contexts. Although scholars have proposed that self-expansion is a basic human motivation, research that supports its cross-cultural generalizability is limited. The present study aimed to contribute to the research (a) by validating a Chinese translation of the Self-Expansion Questionnaire (SEQ, Lewandowski & Aron, 2002) and the Individual Self-Expansion Questionnaire (ISEQ, Mattingly & Lewandowski, 2013)—the established measures of self-expansion in relational and nonrelational contexts, respectively; and (b) by assessing psychometric properties of a measure of the general self-expansion which modified and combined the SEQ and ISEQ. Study 1 conducted an online survey among 335 undergraduate students and examined the factor structures of the scales using exploratory factor analyses. Study 2 aimed to assess the scales among working adults (N = 327) and conducted a confirmatory factor analysis. Both the studies measured openness to experience, sensation seeking, and epistemic curiosity to test convergent validity of the self-expansion scales; and assessed their predictive validity by including self-efficacy, self-esteem, positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction. Findings of the two studies showed that the Chinese scales had good internal reliability and validity, suggesting their applicability to Chinese adult populations. We discussed possible differences in the self-expansion of Chinese and members of individualist cultures and provided questions for future research on general self-expansion. Copyright © 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.