Frontiers in Psychology (Jul 2021)

Measuring Prosocial Behaviors: Psychometric Properties and Cross-National Validation of the Prosociality Scale in Five Countries

  • Bernadette Paula Luengo Kanacri,
  • Nancy Eisenberg,
  • Carlo Tramontano,
  • Antonio Zuffiano,
  • Maria Giovanna Caprara,
  • Evangelina Regner,
  • Liqi Zhu,
  • Concetta Pastorelli,
  • Gian Vittorio Caprara

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.693174
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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This research investigated the psychometric properties of the Prosociality Scale and its cross-cultural validation and generalizability across five different western and non-western countries (China, Chile, Italy, Spain, and the United States). The scale was designed to measure individual differences in a global tendency to behave in prosocial ways during late adolescence and adulthood. Study 1 was designed to identify the best factorial structure of the Prosociality Scale and Study 2 tested the model’s equivalence across five countries (N = 1,630 young adults coming from China, Chile, Italy, Spain and the United States; general Mage = 21.34; SD = 3.34). Findings supported a bifactor model in which prosocial responding was characterized by a general latent factor (i.e., prosociality) and two other specific factors (prosocial actions and prosocial feelings). New evidence of construct validity of the Prosociality Scale was provided.

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