Niceness scale: Development and validation of self-reported behavioral niceness measure

Behavioral niceness is a type of prosocial behavior where one acts in a warm and friendly manner in everyday social interactions, with the aim of benefitting the well-being of others. This article reports the development and validation of a scale for measuring self-reported frequency of behavioral niceness. Three studies, via exploratory factor analysis (Study 1), confirmatory factor analysis, reliability and validity testing (Study 2), and test-retest stability examination (Study 3), revealed satisfactory psychometric properties of the 6-item Niceness Scale and established its nomological and discriminant validity on general population samples. Supporting its predictive validity, the Niceness Scale was related to practically relevant outcomes – actual nice behavior as well as well-being (life meaning, self-satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, happiness, and satisfaction with life), social connectedness, and loneliness.