Abstract
The need for personal significance (i.e., the desire for mattering, meriting respect and 'being someone') is a psychogenic need that guides a variety of human behaviours studied across multiple domains of social psychology. Despite its relevance, a validated measure of stable individual differences in the motivation to satisfy the need for significance is still missing. Across seven studies comprising 14 samples (N = 7740), we developed and validated the Desire for Significance Scale (DSS), capturing that motivation. The six-item scale showed a good unifactorial structure confirmed in eight cultural contexts (i.e., the Unites States, Poland, Italy, Argentina, the Netherlands, Germany, Mexico, Honduras and the Philippines), high inter-item reliability and good stability over time (Studies 1-4). Studies 5 and 6 assessed the convergent, discriminant and predictive validity of the DSS. Finally, one experimental study (Study 7) assessed the scale's sensitivity to situational activation of the need for significance.