Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Chinese Version of the Internet Moral Literacy Scale

Abstract

Introduction: With the rapid rise of the Internet, it has become an indispensable part of adolescents’ learning and lives. To promote sustainable development of the Internet, fostering good Internet moral literacy among adolescents is particularly important. Given the current absence of a Chinese version of the Internet Moral Literacy Scale suitable for adolescents, this study translated and conducted two studies on the scale developed by Lau and Yuen. Methods: In Study 1, item analysis and factor validity analysis of the scale were conducted with 343 adolescents from China. In Study 2, a large-scale cross-sectional survey was conducted to analyze descriptive statistics, factor validity, measurement invariance across genders, difference analysis, and concurrent validity of the scale. The study 2 involved 7837 Chinese adolescents. Results: The results from study 1 showed that most items met the specified criteria. However, one item exhibited higher internal consistency than the overall Cronbach’s alpha value when removed. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a more suitable two-dimensional model, with one item showing cross-loading issues. Study 2 revealed that the Internet Moral Literacy Scale had good internal reliability, and the two-factor structure exhibited excellent factor validity. In addition, significant gender differences in Internet moral literacy levels were identified, with males scoring lower than females. A significant negative correlation was found between Internet moral literacy and both cyberbullying (r = −0.87, P < 0.001) and moral disengagement (r = −0.75, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Chinese version of the Internet Moral Literacy Scale has good psychometric properties.

Keywords

• cyberbullying
• internet moral literacy
• moral disengagement
• reliability and validity