Scale Overview
The Prosocial Personality Battery – PSB was developed by Louis A. Penner (2002). It is designed to measure Prosocial Personality. The scale is intended for use with Adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 30 items organized into 7 factors/subscales: Social Responsibility, Perspective Taking, Empathic Concern, Personal Distress, Other-Oriented Moral Reasoning, Mutual Concerns Moral Reasoning, Self-Reported Altruism.
| Factor / Subscale |
Items |
N |
| Social Responsibility |
1,2,3,4,5,6,7 |
7 |
| Perspective Taking |
8,10,12,16,18 |
5 |
| Empathic Concern |
9,11,13,15 |
4 |
| Personal Distress |
14,17,19 |
3 |
| Other-Oriented Moral Reasoning |
20,23,25 |
3 |
| Mutual Concerns Moral Reasoning |
21,22,24 |
3 |
| Self-Reported Altruism |
26,27,28,29,30 |
5 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly Disagree / Never, 2 = Disagree / Once, 3 = Uncertain / More than Once, 4 = Agree / Often, 5 = Agree Strongly / Very Often.
The scale includes 11 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 30 to 150. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Prosocial Tendency: 30 – 70
- Moderate Prosocial Tendency: 71 – 110
- High Prosocial Tendency: 111 – 150
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Social Responsibility: .65, Empathic Concern: .67, Perspective Taking: .66, Personal Distress: .77, Mutual Moral Reasoning: .64, Other Oriented Reasoning: .77, Self-reported altruism: .73.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.