Measurement Instruments for the Social Sciences

Of Paper, Panels, and Pedagogy: A Multi-Sample Analysis to Establish Measurement Invariance of the Academic Risk-Taking Scale Across Questionnaire Modes and Academic Disciplines

2026-09-04T07:37:20+00:00

Academic risk-taking refers to students’ engagement under uncertainty about the correctness of their contributions. It reflects a learning strategy of accepting potential errors to deepen understanding and is associated with higher learning success. The Academic Risk-Taking Scale measures such behaviors, but its validity depends on demonstrating measurement invariance across relevant groups. This study examined measurement invariance across administration modes, recruitment strategies, and academic disciplines using MG-CFA on data from N = 1,259 students. Strict measurement invariance was established for recruitment mode and academic disciplines, and partial measurement invariance, from the scalar level onward, for administration mode. This level of measurement invariance permitted meaningful latent mean comparisons, revealing group differences across administration modes, recruitment strategies, and academic disciplines. These results indicate that the scale can be reliably applied across these groups, supporting its use in diverse research contexts and providing a foundation for further investigations into patterns of academic risk-taking.

Short Scale Measurement of Legal Cynicism

2026-08-25T06:48:19+00:00

Legal cynicism is a key concept in criminology and related social sciences, yet existing measurement instruments are often lengthy or capture only limited aspects of the construct. Building on the current state of theoretical work, which conceptualizes legal cynicism as a multidimensional construct, this study proposes and evaluates two short scales with nine and six items, respectively. Using data from a survey of adolescents and young adults in Germany, confirmatory factor analyses supported a three-factor structure representing legal antipathy, legal corruption, and legal legitimacy for both versions. Measurement invariance across gender and educational groups was largely supported. Both short scales showed acceptable reliability and theoretically consistent associations with personal values, institutional trust, and attitudes toward intimate partner violence, providing support for construct validity. Overall, the proposed short scales offer parsimonious and psychometrically sound instruments for assessing legal cynicism.

On ‘Doing Conspiracy Theory’. Introduction and Validation of the Conspiracy Practice Scale (CPS-6)

2026-07-20T07:36:09+00:00

Conspiracy theories have recently been met with a lot of public scrutiny. They are generally addressed as a form of belief system that is underpinned by psychological dispositions. In contrast, we introduce the Conspiracy Practice Scale (CPS-6) as a novel instrument focussing on the spread and consumption of conspiracy theories as a form of social practice. In a random split of a dataset collected in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (N = 6,460), exploratory factor analysis was employed to determine dimensionality of the CPS-6 and discriminate it against conspiracy mentality (nEFA = 3,229). CPS-6 emerged as distinct single dimension with good overall reliability (α = .86, ω = .87). Results were confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the second split (nCFA = 3,231). Multi-group CFA revealed measurement invariance across countries and convergent validity was indicated by correlations with related constructs. Overall, results show CPS-6 to be a reliable and valid short-scale to measure conspiracy practice as a distinct construct.

Gender Dynamics in Rape Myth Acceptance: A Psychometric Evaluation of the IRMA-S “She Asked For It” Subscale in Spanish

2026-06-11T06:49:15+00:00

Although men consistently endorse rape myths at higher rates than women, valid gender comparisons require evidence that instruments function equivalently across groups. This study evaluates the psychometric properties and gender-based measurement invariance of the “She Asked For It” subscale from the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale-Subtle (IRMA-S) in a Spanish community sample (N = 1,003; 50.7% men). Analyses included Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Item Response Theory-based approaches, specifically Differential Item Functioning (DIF) and Differential Response Functioning (DRF). At the subscale level, analyses supported metric invariance and satisfactory internal consistency. However, five of six items exhibited significant DIF, predominantly uniform in nature. DRF analyses indicated that the cumulative impact of item-level DIF on expected total scores was modest, particularly for respondents with moderate levels of rape myth acceptance. These findings highlight the value of multi-method approaches to measurement invariance and underscore the need for cautious interpretation of raw gender differences in rape myth acceptance.

Don’t Pull Any Old Personality Taxonomy From the Shelf: The Performance of Historical and Sample Derived Taxonomies in Extracting Personality Information From Text

2026-04-16T00:12:50+00:00

Substantial efforts have been made to develop comprehensive taxonomies of personality traits in many languages. Nevertheless, given that what is important and salient in individuals’ lived experience might be changing over time, this raises the question about the long-term usefulness of ‘off-the-shelf’ taxonomies developed decades ago. In the current study we used a bottom-up approach to create a large sample-specific taxonomy of personality terms. We subsequently examined the overlap and sensitivity of this taxonomy compared to an established trait taxonomy in the same language. Overall, we found that the two taxonomies only showed limited overlap with a pronounced divergence in emotionality (Neuroticism) and social aspects (Agreeableness) of personality. In addition to this, we found that while the personality assessment extracted from self-descriptions using the established taxonomy showed alignment with participants’ self-rated personality, especially Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism, the sample-specific taxonomy showed a significantly greater alignment between text-based and self-rated personality. In summary, our current study highlights the need to extend our thinking about the psycholexical hypothesis, moving away from assumptions of time invariant language encoding to more explicitly recognizing temporal and sample-specific dynamics underpinning the expression and use of personality trait terms.

An Adaptation of Gradational Gender Scales in a Japanese Sample: Nonresponse Rates and Response Distributions for Self-Rated Masculinity and Femininity

2026-04-16T00:12:54+00:00

Although scholars have long depicted gender as multidimensional, many surveys have historically captured gender coarsely. A recent methodological advancement has been gradational gender scales—unipolar scales that ask about self-rated femininity and masculinity. Nonetheless, these scales have yet to receive wider attention outside of the U.S. and Europe. Using data collected by the Social Science Japan Data Archive (SSJDA) in October 2023 and February 2024, we evaluate response patterns to gradational gender scales among Japanese respondents. We find high levels of nonresponse for these questions, and responses are less bimodally distributed and less extreme in value than in other country contexts. Respondents are particularly less likely to provide answers to scales that are “gender-atypical”—e.g., masculinity for women, and femininity for men. These findings reveal large differences in response patterns in a Japanese sample, indicating the need and promise for future research when administering gradational gender scales in different contexts.

Analyzing the Psychometric Properties of the Revised Early University Leaving Intention Questionnaire

2026-02-13T01:01:11+00:00

The current high rate of academic dropout in the university system necessitates early identification of first-year students' intentions to drop out to detect potential risk cases. This paper reports a linguistic adaptation of the revised version of the Early University Dropout Intentions Questionnaire (EUDIQ-R) and an analysis of its psychometric properties in an Argentine population. Participants were 747 first-year university students from Argentina. The instrument was adapted to the local idiom. The internal three-factor structure of the EUDIQ-R was then verified through confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency was adequate. Factorial invariance analysis verified the metric equivalence of the instrument's structure between samples of students from Argentina and Spain. Finally, evidence of concurrent validity was obtained using an instrument that assesses academic engagement. This study provides adequate evidence of the validity and reliability of the EUDIQ-R, which can be used to identify early dropout intentions in first-year university students.

Shortening the Relationship Disillusionment Scale to a Three-Item Measure (RDS-3)

2026-02-13T01:01:25+00:00

Relationship disillusionment—perceiving that one’s romantic relationship is not meeting expectations and getting worse and viewing one’s spouse/partner in an increasingly negative light—has been shown to predict likelihood of relationship breakup, independent of relationship satisfaction, commitment, and duration. Current versions of the Relationship Disillusionment Scale (RDS), the leading measure in this area, have 11 or more items. The present research examined properties (factor loadings, internal consistency and test-retest reliability, convergent and concurrent criterion validity, and dyadic correlations) of full-length RDS measures in three datasets to identify a small number of items that could comprise a psychometrically sound short form of the RDS. A three-item RDS version emerged, which performed comparably well to full-length versions. Hence, we recommend the RDS-3 for use in future research when survey length is an issue (e.g., daily diary studies; surveys taken on mobile phones).

Validating the Perception of Sex Offenders Scale (PSO) Among Norwegian Students in Health, Social Work, and Police Education

2026-01-16T00:15:31+00:00

Reliable instruments are essential for studying perceptions of individuals convicted of sexual offences across cultural contexts. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the Perceptions of Sex Offenders Scale (PSO) among Norwegian students in nursing, social education, social work, and police education (N = 282). Using confirmatory factor analysis, we tested the fit of the PSO’s original three-factor structure. The model showed mixed fit (RMSEA = .072; SRMR = .072; CFI = .86; TLI = .84). Internal consistency was satisfactory for Sentencing and Management and Stereotype Endorsement (α = .82 and .70), but low for Risk Perception (α = .53). Internal validity indices were uneven: composite reliability was acceptable for Sentencing and Management and Stereotype Endorsement (CR = .89 and .71), but not for Risk Perception (CR = .58), and AVE values were below recommended thresholds across factors, particularly for Risk Perception (AVE = .227). Free-text responses indicated that participants primarily had rape and child sexual abuse in mind when responding to the PSO. Overall, the PSO shows promise in a Norwegian student context, but the Risk Perception dimension appears to require refinement before the scale can be used confidently for research and educational purposes.

An Introduction to the Article Collection “Measuring Attitudes and Tendencies of Degradation”

2025-12-19T00:24:54+00:00