[General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) in Simple Language: Internal Consistency, Standard Values and Correlations with...

Area of Science:

• Social Science Research
• Psychometrics
• Health Literacy

Context:

• Germany has 6.2 million adults with limited literacy, excluding them from social participation and research.
• Existing questionnaires require adaptation to easy language for inclusive research.

Purpose:

• To adapt the Self-Efficacy Expectancy (SWE) questionnaire into an easy language version (SWE-LS).
• To re-examine the psychometric quality of the SWE-LS scale.
• To enable participation of individuals with limited literacy in survey-based research.

Summary:

• The SWE questionnaire was translated into easy language (SWE-LS) and tested on a representative German sample (N=2,531).
• The SWE-LS scale exhibited good internal consistency (Cronbach's-Alpha=0.84), adequate item difficulty, and discriminatory power.
• Results showed expected correlations with demographic variables, with higher self-efficacy in men, higher education, higher income, East Germans, and married individuals.

Impact:

• The SWE-LS scale offers a methodologically sound alternative to the original SWE scale.
• Enables participation for over 12% of the adult population previously excluded from research.
• Supports the systematic translation of frequently used questionnaires for broader research accessibility.