Valuing Others Over Oneself: Development and Validation of a People Pleasing Scale in two German Samples

People Pleasing refers to a tendency to prioritize the needs and goals of others over the own needs and goals, which arguably goes along with a manifold of psychological consequences for individuals high in people pleasing. In two preregistered studies involving students and community members alike (n1 = 571, n2 = 1,323), a 10-item People Pleasing Scale was developed and validated. Study 1 revealed three dimensions of people pleasing, namely Responsibility, Neglect of Own Needs, and Others’ Expectations. This structure was confirmed in Study 2. Residual measurement invariance across genders was found in both independent datasets. Analyses of the nomological networks and similarities thereof revealed that people pleasing, as measured with the People Pleasing Scale, was positively correlated with yet distinguishable from facets of agreeableness, honesty-humility, emotionality, empathy, and negatively correlated yet distinguishable from subclinical psychopathy. Furthermore, people pleasing went along with charitable giving in the ultimatum game and the dictator game, and with a social value orientation. The findings underscore the uniqueness of the people construct as measured with the People Pleasing Scale and its merit for scientific and applied purposes. Outlooks for future applications of the people pleasing construct and the devised measurement tool are outlined.