Italian Validation of the Hero’s and Heroine’s Journey Scale (SVEE)

Rogers and colleagues recently developed the Hero’s Journey Scale (HJS), a psychometric instrument designed to assess the extent to which individuals structure their life narratives according to this archetypal schema. From a constructivist and narrative identity perspective, the Hero’s Journey may be understood as a culturally available narrative framework that individuals can draw upon in interpreting and organizing their life experience. The present study aimed to validate the Italian version of the scale–named the Scala del Viaggio dell’Eroe e dell’Eroina (SVEE)–and to examine its associations with meaning in life and other psychological constructs. A sample of 334 participants completed the SVEE along with measures of self-concept clarity, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, uniqueness, grit, self-actualization, personality traits, and generativity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original seven-factor structure (Protagonist, Shift, Quest, Allies, Challenge, Transformation, Legacy), showing adequate reliability indices. Correlational and path analyses indicated that endorsement of a heroic-transformative narrative framework was positively associated with meaning in life. These findings support the validity of the Italian version and suggest its potential use in examining narrative self-interpretation within a constructivist framework, with potential applications in research, clinical, and educational contexts.