How do laypersons interpret the Authentic and Hubristic Pride Scales? A three-study content validity investigation

TL;DR

This study examines how everyday people understand two types of pride scales and finds that interpretations of the hubristic pride scale are inconsistent and unclear.

Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on layperson interpretations of the Authentic and Hubristic Pride Scales, revealing significant variability in understanding.

Findings

Laypersons have diverse and inconsistent interpretations of the Hubristic Pride scale.

There is no convergence on a single construct for the Hubristic Pride scale among laypeople.

Scores from the Hubristic Pride scale may not validly assess pride or other psychological constructs.

Abstract

The two-facet model of pride posits that the emotion of pride comes in two distinguishable forms: authentic pride and hubristic pride. To date, most empirical research in this vein has relied on the Authentic and Hubristic Pride Scales. Yet, there has been vigorous debate as to whether these scales, particularly the Hubristic Pride scale, are valid as measures of pride. At present, this debate hinges on a question for which there has not yet been empirical evidence sufficient to draw conclusions: do laypersons perceive and interpret these scales as assessing “pride” as they understand that lay emotion term? In three studies (total N = 509), conducted with native English speakers living in primarily western cultures during summer 2022, we investigate layperson interpretations of these scales across multiple levels of analysis: layperson interpretations of the scales holistically, layperson interpretations of the scale items individually, and layperson free descriptions applying the AP and HP items to their own recalled experiences. Our results indicate that, much as scholars widely disagree as to the meaning of the Hubristic Pride scale, so too do laypersons. These lay interpretations are diffuse, lacking convergence on any single kind of construct. We conclude that layperson interpretations of the Hubristic Pride scale are so extensively varying that its scores probably cannot be used to validly assess pride or any other specific psychological construct.

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