ABSTRACT
Abstract Background Skepticism has traditionally been associated with critical thinking. However, philosophy has proposed a particular type of skepticism, termed naive skepticism, which may increase susceptibility to misinformation, especially when contrasting information from official sources. While some scales propose to measure skepticism, they are scarce and only measure specific topics; thus, new instruments are needed to assess this construct. Objective This study aimed to develop a scale to measure naive skepticism in the adult population. Method The study involved 446 individuals from the adult population. Subjects were randomly selected for either the pilot study (phase 2; n = 126) or the validity-testing study (phase 3; n = 320). Parallel analyses and exploratory structural equation modelling were conducted to assess the internal structure of the test. Scale reliability was estimated using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients Finally, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess invariance, and a Set- Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling was applied to estimate evidence of validity based on associations with other variables. Results The naive skepticism scale provided adequate levels of reliability (ω > 0.8), evidence of validity based on the internal structure of the test (CFI = 0.966; TLI = 0.951; RMSEA = 0.079), gender invariance, and a moderate inverse effect on attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines. Conclusions The newly developed naive skepticism scale showed acceptable psychometric properties in an adult population, thus enabling the assessment of naive skepticism in similar demographics. This paper discusses the implications for the theoretical construct and possible limitations of the scale.
ABSTRACT
El objetivo de esta investigación es evaluar las propiedades psicométricas del Gratitude Questionnaire 6 (McCullough, Emmons & Tsang, 2002) en población chilena. En el estudio participaron 307 hombres y 295 mujeres de diferente grupo etario. En primer lugar se estimó la confiabilidad y validez del constructo de la escala. En segundo lugar se analizaron indicadores de validez basados en la convergencia y divergencia con los instrumentos: Cuestionario de los cinco grandes, Escala de satisfacción vital, Escala de afectos positivos y negativos y el Test de orientación vital revisado. Los resultados indican adecuación del cuestionario para su utilización en la evaluación de la gratitud en población chilena.
The objective of this research was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Gratitude Questionnaire 6 (McCullough, Emmons & Tsang, 2002) in Chilean population. In the study 307 men and 295 women of different age groups participated. We first estimated the reliability and construct validity of the scale. Secondly we analyzed the indicators convergent and divergent validity with these instruments: Big Five Questionnaire, Life Satisfaction Scale, Positive and Negative Affects Scale and Revised Life Orientation Test. The results indicate adequacy of the questionnaire for use in the evaluation of gratitude in Chilean population.
Subject(s)
Psychology , PsychometricsABSTRACT
El estudio examina el papel de los rasgos de personalidad y la necesidad de cognición en la predicción de la satisfacción vital. Para ello, se evaluó a una muestra de 235 estudiantes de una universidad estatal chilena, utilizando el Inventario Cinco Factores (ICF-UTA), la Escala de Necesidad de Cognición (ENC) y la Escala de Satisfaccion con la Vida (SWLS). Los resultados indican relaciones significativas entre satisfacción y los rasgos de neuroticismo (-0.4), responsabilidad (0.29), afabilidad (0.34) y el constructo de necesidad de cognición (0.32), los que en conjunto explican un porcentaje significativo de varianza de la satisfacción vital de los estudiantes.
The study examines the role of personality traits and the need for cognition in predicting life satisfaction. We evaluated a sample of 235 students at a state university in Chile, using the Five -Factor Inventory (ICF-UTA), the Need for Cognition Scale (NCS) and the Scale of Satisfaction with Life (SWLS). Results suggest significant relationships between life satisfaction, and neuroticism (-0.4), conscientiousness (0.29), agreeableness (0.34) and the construct of need for cognition (0.32), which together explain a significant percentage of variance in life satisfaction of students.