Toward the Measurement of Interpersonal Generosity (IG): An IG Scale Conceptualized, Tested, and Validated Christian Smith, University of Notre Dame Jonathan P. Hill, Calvin College © 2009 The Interpersonal Generosity Scale (IGS) described below is designed to measure the degree to which individuals spend themselves (i.e., their attention, time, emotion, energy, etc.) to enhance the well-being of others in interpersonal relationships. Interpersonal generosity (IG) can be conceptualized as relationship “work” that persons engage and through which they expend themselves in order to increase the good of the other(s) in the relationship and of the relationship itself. Our premise is that variance at the level of persons exists in IG, which is worth studying.Some people are extremely generous and others are more stingy when it comes to the giving of themselves in interpersonal relationships. We further assume that these differences have multiple, significant consequences in personal and social life. We believe that IG is an important, though neglected, form of generosity to which scholars who study generosity, altruism, helping, pro-social orientations, love, and related matters ought to pay greater attention. To that end, we have developed and tested the IGS, described as follows. Conceptual Definition Although IG is closely related to—and in certain cases overlaps—the concepts of altruism, pro-social orientation, helping, love, and other similar idea, IG involves several dimensions that give it a particular conceptual specificity. First, IG always involves and is expressed through social relationships. IG is not simply about a general orientation to life or people, as an abstract disposition toward some larger social “good.” Second, IG focuses on behaviors of giving, by asking directly about giving behaviors and indirectly about tendencies toward and identities related to giving to others. Third, what are generously given in IG are resources of the subjective self, not simply extrinsic or easily objectifiable resources such as money, labor, or even blood. In IG, persons always expend irreducibly personal goods, such as attention, emotions, and energy, not impersonal goods. Fourth, IG need not be purely altruistic. Since even the most loving relationships normally involve some amount of reciprocity, exchange, and mutuality, genuine IG can be expressed with the expectation, conscious or subconscious, in part that the giver in the relationships will also receive back in some way(s) and at some time. To be sure, we do not conceive of IG in terms of a strict, rational, immediate exchange designed to maintain relational equity or equilibrium. But neither do we, as a matter of principle, rule out the generous IG giver also benefitting from reciprocated giving and reward in the relationship. Constructing the Scale The final IGS instrument contains 10 items, measuring six identifiable dimensions of interpersonal generosity: attention, compassion, openhandedness, self-extension, courage, and verbal expression. Preliminary versions of the instrument contained up to 26 items (see Appendix A). Most of those questions were derived from established personality and value scales, in particular those developed by Penner et al. (1995) and McCullough and Bono (n.d.). Some of those items were slightly revised for present purposes, while some were used verbatim. A number of other items were written by us as original questions. Appendix A displays the 26 items used in the original,