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Development of the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Scale: Psychometric Properties and Validity Study

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Abstract

This study aims to develop a new self-report measure of unconditional self-acceptance (USAS), and to examine its psychometric properties. A total of 1,137 adults aged between 18 and 76 participated in the study. To determine the reliability, construct validity, convergent validity, measurement invariance, and predictive validity of the scale, several statistical analyses were conducted. Both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) supported a unidimensional structure, demonstrating satisfactory construct validity. For convergent validity, significant correlations were found between the new USAS and the previous unconditional self-acceptance scale. Predictive validity analyses showed that higher levels of unconditional self-acceptance were significantly associated with lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Internal consistency analyses indicated high reliability. Measurement invariance analyses revealed that the USAS functions equivalently across academic and non-academic contexts, allowing for meaningful comparisons. Overall, the findings suggest that the new USAS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing unconditional self-acceptance.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey

    Murat Balkis, Erdinç Duru & Turgut Türkdoğan

Contributions

Author ContributionsM. B.: Collaborated with the design, collecting data and analyzing data, and writing of the study. E.D.: designed and executed the study and wrote the paper. T. T.: collected data and wrote part of the introduction.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Murat Balkis.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Social and Human Sciences Research and Publication Ethics Committee of Pamukkale University. Informed consent was obtained from each participant.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

About this article

Cite this article

Balkis, M., Duru, E. & Türkdoğan, T. Development of the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Scale: Psychometric Properties and Validity Study. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 43, 38 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-025-00598-x

  • Accepted
  • Published
  • DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-025-00598-x

Keywords

  • Unconditional self-acceptance
  • Validity
  • Reliability
  • Gender

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