The Development and Validation of the Costs of United States Corporate Capitalism Scale

Abstract

Within the field of counseling psychology, which promotes values of social justice, the discussion of United States corporate capitalism (USCC) is limited. I provide evidence for the development and validation of the Costs of USCC Scale (CCC), a 24-item, self-report measure assessing the degree to which an individual attributes the cause of social problems in the U.S. to be structural (i.e. USCC) or individualistic (i.e. individual failure regarding work ethic, lack of motivation, effort, or ability). 1,010 individuals completed the CCC scale through an online survey distributed through MTurk. A three-factor structure emerged: a) USCC as Structural Cause of Costs, b) Individual Failure as Cause of Costs, c) Disagreement with Temporary Solutions to Costs. The CCC has acceptable criterion and discriminant validity, and reliability estimates for the full scale. Findings from this project may help inform future research on attitudes regarding USCC and their relationship with economic policy change.