Salesperson self-esteem: Measure development and validation

Although scholarly interest in salesperson self-esteem has always been high, past research on self-esteem in selling contexts has almost always measured salespersons’ self-esteem using items adapted from global self-esteem measures. In this paper, we use mixed methods to develop and validate a new measure for self-esteem in sales settings. Through grounded theory, we build and propose a multidimensional conceptualization encompassing professional, task and relational dimensions of salesperson self-esteem (SpSE). Analyses of data obtained from multiple surveys of salespeople show (i) better fit for a 3-factor structure when compared to competing models; (ii) high reliability and content validity for the new measure; (iii) convergent and discriminant validity with related constructs, and (iv) incremental validity while predicting key outcomes over and above prior salesperson self-esteem measures. Cumulatively, we show that the SpSE measure is reliable and valid, advancing a nuanced approach to research relating to self-esteem in selling organizations.