Investigating Measurement Invariance of the Psychological Entitlement Scale – Grandiose-Based and Vulnerable-Based

Abstract

Abstract. Entitlement has attracted interest across various social science disciplines due to its broad connection to selfish decision-making outcomes and mental health. Although unidimensional entitlement scales have been widely used, these scales conflate vulnerable- and grandiose-based entitlement forms. The Psychological Entitlement Scale – Grandiose-Based and Vulnerable-Based (PES-G/V) was recently devised to measure these entitlement forms. Prior work has supported the structure and construct validity of the PES-G/V, but no research has addressed the measurement invariance (MI) of the PES-G/V. Hence, we examined MI in relation to gender, two popular sampling frames in psychology studies (US MTurk participants and US college participants), and age. Results supported scalar MI across levels of each of the grouping variables. In sum, the structural properties of the PES-G/V seemed robust to the group distinctions.