The empirical distinction of core self-evaluations and psychological capital and the identification of negative core self-evaluations and negative psychological capital

- Core self-evaluations (CSE) and psychological capital (PsyCap) are studied.
- Three studies show that CSE and PsyCap are distinct by extremely strongly related.
- Two negatively-worded factors emerge from CSE and PsyCap scales in three studies.
- These emergent factors are labeled Negative CSE and Negative PsyCap.

Core self-evaluations (CSE) and Psychological Capital (PsyCap) each consist of four first-order dimensions, and the two constructs are strong predictors of personal and organizational outcomes. Despite their similarities, much is still unknown regarding the manner in which the two constructs are distinct. Also, while both constructs are described as positive attributes, the most popular CSE and PsyCap scales include items that represent negative attributes. We suggest that these items may represent two alternative constructs - Negative CSE and Negative PsyCap. Through a series of three studies, we address these research questions. We show that, although strongly related, the constructs of CSE and PsyCap represent two distinct factors, even when the scale instructions provide a common temporal stability and/or specificity. We also show that the two most popular CSE and PsyCap scales are best represented by four factors that represent CSE, PsyCap, Negative CSE, and Negative PsyCap. As two separate dimensions emerged for the items describing negative attributes, this finding suggests that the factors representing the negative items are more than artifactors alone. We discuss the implications of these findings in regards to the measurement of CSE and PsyCap as well as the future study of Negative CSE and Negative PsyCap.