Confirmatory factor analysis

Performing a strong intelligence grants an organization a guarantee of long-term success. This paper investigates the enhancing effect of organizational learning capabilities on competitive intelligence at the commercial banks in Jordan. A sample within top and middle managements was used. Measurement instrument validity and model fit were assessed before testing hypotheses. This study emphasizes the role learning capability plays in enhancing intelligence. Key findings support importance of organizational context of learning facilitators within Jordanian banks and recommend banks to practice learning capabilities in order to introduce themselves as intelligent organizations.

The present study was conducted with the aim of constructing and investigating the factor structure of students' research engagement questionnaire. The research method was survey and the statistical population includes all of the postgraduate students of humanities faculty (Literature and Humanities, Islamic Theology and Science, Sport Sciences, Education and Psychology, Administrative and Economic Sciences) at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (N=3199). Using Cochran formula, the sample size was estimated to be 343 student. The participants were selected by stratified random sampling. The theoretical model Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2002) was determined as the basis of scale construction. This model includes three components of cognitive, emotional, and leadership engagement. SPSS and AMOS software are used for data analysis. Content validity and confirmatory factor analysis were used to determine the validity of the questionnaire and Cronbach's alpha coefficient to check the reliability. The results showed that the alpha coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.89 and for cognitive (0.80), emotional (0.73) and behavioral (0.76). Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by 8 experts of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (based on CVI) and inappropriate items were removed. Goodness indicators confirmed the fit of the model. According to the research results the research engagement questionnaire had good internal consistency and validity and this questionnaire can be used in research.

CERIN, E., B. E. SAELENS, J. F. SALLIS, and L. D. FRANK. Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale: Validity and Development of a Short Form. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 1682-1691, 2006. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the factorial and criterion validity of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) and to develop an abbreviated

Theories regarding susceptibility to emotional contagion, which address the ease of "catching" the emotions expressed by others, have recently received growing interest in the field of social psychology and health. Despite the theoretical and empirical importance, reliable and valid instruments to assess emotional contagion in men and women from cultures outside the English-speaking world are not well developed. The present study examines the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Greek adaptation of the Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS), and is a first attempt to test its measurement invariance across gender and culture groups (Greece and Sweden). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of competing models supports a five-factor model that includes the five basic emotions of anger, fear, sadness, happiness, and love. Using multiple-group CFA and a sequence of nested tests, configural invariance and partial metric and partial scalar invariance across gender and culture groups of the five-factor model were demonstrated. The results show that meaningful comparisons of ECS can be made across men and women from different cultures and support the hypothesis that susceptibility to emotional contagion operates at a differential emotions level.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and validation of a multi-dimensional instrument to measure servant leadership. Design/Methodology/Approach Based on an extensive literature review and expert judgment, 99 items were formulated. In three steps, using eight samples totaling 1571 persons from The Netherlands and the UK with a diverse occupational background, a combined exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis approach was used. This was followed by an analysis of the criterion-related validity. Findings The final result is an eight-dimensional measure of 30 items: the eight dimensions being: standing back, forgiveness, courage, empowerment, accountability, authenticity, humility, and stewardship. The internal consistency of the subscales is good. The results show that the Servant Leadership Survey (SLS) has convergent validity with other leadership measures, and also adds unique elements to the leadership field. Evidence for criterion-related validity came from studies relating the eight dimensions to well-being and performance. Implications With this survey, a valid and reliable instrument to measure the essential elements of servant leadership has been introduced. Originality/Value The SLS is the first measure where the underlying factor structure was developed and confirmed across several field studies in two countries. It can be used in future studies to test the underlying premises of servant leadership theory. The SLS provides a clear picture of the key servant leadership qualities and shows where improvements can be made on the individual and organizational level; as such, it may also offer a valuable starting point for training and leadership development.

This study gives results of the first phase of the 12-18 year old Turkish students’ norm study of The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), which deveoped by Pintrich, Smith, Garcia & McKeachie (1993). The scale was administrated to 1114 students from 3 primary schools and 3 high schools in Ankara in Turkish language, science, mathematics and social science courses. After eliminating the questionnaires which have missing and extreme values, the analyses were done on 762 valid questionnaires for motivation subscale and 1100 valid questionnaires for learning strategies subscale. Results of the confirmatory factor analyses show that the first subscale, Motivation, has six factors, and the second subscale, Learning Strategies, has nine factors according to original scale’s factor structures. Depending on the results of the confirmatory factor analysis; 6 items from motivation subscale and 5 items from learning strategies subscale were removed due to their low factor lo...

Introduction: The multidimensional psychological well-being model proposed by Ryff (RPWB) represents the widely used instrument to assess the human positive functioning by six interrelated dimensions. Previous studies have shown controversial results regarding the latent structure and factorial validity of the model. It was emphasized that, it is necessary to use particular methodological procedures that are appropriate for the treatment of ordinal variables. The aim of the research was to explore the dimensions of psychological well-being of RPWB, within the Italian context. Method: 602 adolescents attending high schools in the Florence area took part in the study. The data gathered with the Italian version of RPWB, were analyzed using polychoric correlations. Exploratory Factor Analyses, on the 54-, 42-, and 18-item versions, were conducted using the Maximum likelihood method for the extraction of factors, the Direct Oblimin for the rotation along with hierarchical analysis of obl...

Using data based on self-, parent, and teacher reports, we assessed various aspects of psychopathology in a large sample of control children and those with ADHD. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to extract response bias from latent constructs of aggression, anxiety, attention problems, depression, conduct disorder, and hyperactivity. These latent constructs were then entered into logistic regression equations to predict membership in control versus ADHD groups, and to discriminate between ADHD subtypes. Results of the regression equations showed that higher levels of attention problems and aggression were the best predictors of membership in the ADHD group relative to controls. Logistic regression also indicated that a higher degree of aggression was the only significant predictor of membership in the ADHD-Combined group compared to the ADHD-Inattentive group. However, when comorbid diagnoses of Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder were controlled for in the l...

A new measure of motivation toward education has been developed in French, namely the Echelle de Motivation en Education (EME). The EME is based on the tenets of self-determination theory and is composed of 28 items subdivided into seven sub-scales assessing three types of intrinsic motivation (intrinsic motivation to know, to accomplish things, and to experience stimulation), three types of extrinsic motivation (external, introjected, and identified regulation), and a motivation. The purpose of this investigation was to cross-culturally validate in English the EME. The EME was translated in English through appropriate methodological procedures and completed by university students. Results revealed that the English version of the scale renamed the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS), has satisfactory levels of internal consistency (mean alpha value = .81) and temporal stability over a one-month period (mean test-retest correlation = .79). In addition, results of a confirmatory factor an...

Much psychological inquiry has focused on understanding the contribution that exposure to urban violence makes to violent behavior among youth. However, other ways in which these variables may be related have been largely overlooked. This study compared four alternative social–ecological models of the link between community violence exposure and violent behavior to determine the degree to which (1) community violence exposure contributes to violent behavior, (2) violent behavior contributes to community violence exposure, (3) both are consequences of common antecedents, and (4) both are manifestations of the same higher order construct. Two hundred and seventy-seven adolescent offenders were interviewed about family, neighborhood, cognitive, and peer characteristics, in addition to violent behavior and community violence exposure. Results suggest that a plausible way to understand the association between community violence exposure and youth violent behavior is to consider both as representations of a general involvement in violence.

The Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) is a globally recognized measure of stress coping methods. However, research into the applicability of the CISS-SF in an Iranian context is still in its infancy. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate psychometric properties of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations-Short Form (CISS-SF, Endler & Parker, 1994) among Iranian university students. Three-hundred university students (150 male and 150 female) completed the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations-Short Form (CISS-SF), the Self-Esteem Scale (SES, Rosenberg, 1965) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS, Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988). The confirmatory factor analysis method and internal consistency were used to compute the CISS-SF's factorial validity and reliability, respectively. Also, in order to examine the construct validity of the CISS-SF, we computed correlations between different dimensions of CISS-SF with self-esteem and positive and negative affect. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis, based AMOS software, showed that three-factor structure of the task-oriented coping, emotion-oriented coping and avoidance-oriented coping in the Iranian sample had good fit with data. Correlational analyses between task-oriented coping and emotion-oriented coping as well as avoidance-oriented coping with self-esteem and positive and negative affect provided initial evidence for the ACS convergent validity. Internal consistency coefficients for the task-oriented coping, emotion-oriented coping and avoidance-oriented coping subscales were .78, .79 and .79, respectively. In sum, these findings provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the CISS-SF as an instrument to measure coping styles among Iranian university students.