Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II (PGIS-II)

Abstract

The Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II (PGIS-II) is a refined, 16-item psychological scale designed to measure an individual’s active and intentional engagement in the process of self-improvement and growth. Developed by Robitschek and colleagues in 2012, the PGIS-II succeeded the original Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) published in 1998. It conceptualizes personal growth initiative (PGI) not merely as a trait, but as a set of goal-directed, proactive behaviors that facilitate positive change. The scale yields a total score reflecting overall PGI, while also assessing four distinct, yet related, behavioral components necessary for effective personal change.

Keywords

Personal Growth Initiative, PGIS-II, Robitschek, Intentional Behavior, Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, Counseling Psychology, Psychometrics, Self-Efficacy

Authors

C. Robitschek, M. W. Ashton, C. C. Spering, N. Geiger, D. Byers, C. Schotts, M. A. Thoen

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II (PGIS-II) is to assess the extent to which individuals proactively and intentionally participate in their own Personal Growth Initiative (PGI). This instrument was developed to provide a more robust and factorially clear measure compared to the original PGIS. It allows researchers and practitioners in fields such as Counseling Psychology and positive psychology to quantify the behavioral components of growth, moving beyond simple aspiration to measure the actual steps and strategies employed by individuals seeking self-improvement.

The PGIS-II serves as a valuable tool for predicting positive outcomes, including psychological well-being, coping effectiveness, and career exploration. By focusing on specific skills and behaviors, the scale can inform therapeutic interventions aimed at enhancing a client’s capacity for initiating and sustaining personal change.

Construct

The PGIS-II measures Personal Growth Initiative (PGI), which is defined as the active and intentional engagement in the process of personal change. PGI is viewed as a proactive disposition characterized by the ability to identify necessary changes, formulate a plan, mobilize resources, and engage in specific behaviors to achieve growth goals. The construct is multidimensional and is delineated into four distinct factors, each representing a crucial stage or component of the intentional change process.

The four factors measured by the PGIS-II are:

• Readiness for Change: Reflects the individual’s awareness of the need for change and their psychological preparedness to undertake it.
• Planfulness: Refers to the ability to set realistic goals and develop concrete, systematic plans to achieve those goals.
• Using Resources: Measures the active seeking out and utilization of internal and external support systems (e.g., social support, professional help) during the growth process.
• Intentional Behavior: Assesses the actual dedication, effort, and proactive steps taken by the individual to pursue personal development opportunities.

Validity

The development of the PGIS-II included extensive efforts to establish strong psychometric properties, particularly in terms of construct and concurrent validity. The scale demonstrates high construct validity, confirming that it accurately measures the theoretical concept of Personal Growth Initiative as a four-factor model of intentional change behavior. Studies have consistently shown that the PGIS-II subscales correlate positively with established measures of psychological health, well-being, self-efficacy, and adaptive coping styles, while correlating negatively with measures of distress and maladaptive coping.

Furthermore, the PGIS-II has demonstrated predictive validity, showing its utility in forecasting future engagement in growth-related behaviors, such as career exploration and persistence in challenging life transitions. The refinement from the original PGIS ensured that the PGIS-II items loaded cleanly onto their hypothesized factors, improving measurement precision, particularly in applied Counseling Psychology research.

Reliability

The PGIS-II exhibits high internal consistency reliability, indicating that the 16 items reliably measure the underlying construct of PGI. Across diverse samples, the scale and its subscales typically yield high Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, generally ranging from .80 to over .90 for the total scale score. This level of reliability suggests strong coherence among the items.

Additionally, test-retest reliability studies confirm the stability of the PGIS-II scores over time, indicating that PGI, as measured by the scale, represents a relatively stable individual difference variable. The robust reliability confirms the PGIS-II’s suitability for both research and clinical assessment purposes.

Factor Analysis

The development of the PGIS-II was heavily guided by rigorous Factor analysis to ensure a clear, multidimensional structure, addressing some of the factor ambiguity present in the original PGIS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) conducted during the scale’s development (Robitschek et al., 2012) supported a four-factor model, corresponding to the theoretical dimensions of Personal Growth Initiative: Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior.

This four-factor structure, comprising 16 items, provides a clearer and more nuanced understanding of the components of intentional growth behavior than the unidimensional or less distinct factor structures sometimes found in the original instrument. The strong factor loadings and good model fit statistics confirmed the superior structural integrity of the PGIS-II.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Psychological scale

Format: 16 items rated on a 6-point Likert scale.

Language Available: Primarily English (validated translations may exist in other languages based on subsequent research).

Population Group: General population, clinical samples, and college students.

Age Group: Adults and adolescents (typically 18+).

Population Details: Suitable for use across various demographic groups in research pertaining to well-being, counseling outcomes, and proactive adaptation.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their level of agreement with each statement using the following 6-point scale:

1. 0 = Disagree Strongly
2. 1 = Disagree Somewhat
3. 2 = Disagree a Little
4. 3 = Agree a Little
5. 4 = Agree Somewhat
6. 5 = Agree Strongly

Subscale scoring is determined by summing the items corresponding to each factor: Readiness for Change (Items 2, 8, 11, 16); Planfulness (Items 1, 3, 5, 10, 13); Using Resources (Items 6, 12, 14); and Intentional Behavior (Items 4, 7, 9, 15).

Keywords

Self-improvement, Goal setting, Psychological well-being, Assessment, Proactive behavior, Counseling, Psychometrics, Likert scale

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source content.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence is typically directed to the lead author, C. Robitschek, whose affiliation at the time of the 2012 publication was likely a university Counseling Psychology department.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The PGIS-II is generally available for academic research use, though specific permissions should be sought from the lead author, C. Robitschek. There is typically no fee associated with academic use, but commercial or large-scale use may require negotiation. The scale’s development and psychometric evaluation were formally published in 2012, marking the primary test year for the PGIS-II version.

The original Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) was developed in 1998.

The original PDF for the instrument can be downloaded here: http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780123745170/Chapter%203/Chapter_3_Worksheet_3.7.pdf

Reference’s

• Robitschek, C. (1998). Personal growth initiative: The construct and its measure. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 30, 183-198.
• Robitschek, C. (1999). Further validation of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 31, 197-210.
• Robitschek, C., & Cook, S. W. (1999). The influence of personal growth initiative and coping styles on career exploration and vocational identity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 127-141.
• Robitschek, C., & Kashubeck, S. (1999). A structural model of parental alcoholism, family functioning, and psychological health: The mediating effects of hardiness and personal growth orientation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 159-172.
• Robitschek, C., Ashton, M. W., Spering, C. C., Geiger, N., Byers, D., Schotts, C., & Thoen, M. A. (2012). Development and psychometric evaluation of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(2), 274-278.
• Robitschek et al, (2009, 2010). Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II. In: Simmons C. A., Lehmann P. (eds). Tools for strengths-based assessment and evaluation, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 274-276. (2013). Google Scholar

Items of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II (PGIS-II)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. I set realistic goals for what I want to change about myself
2. I can tell when I am ready to make specific changes in myself
3. I know how to make a realistic plan in order to change myself
4. I take every opportunity to grow as it comes up
5. When I try to change myself, I make a realistic plan for my personal growth
6. I ask for help when I try to change myself
7. I actively work to improve myself
8. I figure out what I need to change about myself
9. I am constantly trying to grow as a person
10. I know how to set realistic goals to make changes in myself
11. I know when I need to make a specific change in myself
12. I use resources when I try to grow
13. I know steps I can take to make intentional changes in myself
14. I actively seek out help when I try to change myself
15. I look for opportunities to grow as a person
16. I know when it’s time to change specific things about myself

The original Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) items (Robitschek, 1998) included:

1. I know how to change specific things that I want to change in my life
2. I have a good sense of where I am headed in my life
3. If I want to change something in my life, I initiate the transition process
4. I can choose the role that I want to have in a group
5. I know what I need to do to get started toward reaching my goals
6. I have a specific action plan to help me reach my goals
7. I take charge of my life
8. I know what my unique contribution to the world might be
9. I have a plan for making my life more balanced