AbstractThe problem is addressed of establishing the satisfiability of prenex formulas involving a single universal quantifier, in diversified axiomatic set theories. A rather general decision method for solving this problem is illustrated through the treatment of membership theories of increasing strength, ending with a subtheory of Zermelo‐Fraenkel which is already complete with respect to the ∀*∀ class of sentences. NP‐hardness and NP‐completeness results concerning the problems under study are achieved and a technique for restricting the universal quantifier is presented.Mathematics Subject Classification:03B