Construct Validity and Reliability of the Tolerance Scale among Iranian College Students

Abstract

In the present study, the Tolerance Scale developed by Ersanlı (2014) was adapted to the Iranian culture, and its validity and reliability were investigated in the case of Iranian college students. The participants consisted of 552 Iranian college students (62% male, M=20.84, S.D.: 1.53) selected using the convenience sampling method. The sample was randomly divided into two groups, and the item analyses and exploratory factor analysis were conducted on the data obtained from the first sample and the confirmatory factor analysis on the data from the second sample. The item analyses revealed that some items in the scale had low item-total correlations. After the removal of these items, the exploratory factor analysis demonstrated that the scale had a single-factor structure similar to that of the original scale. The confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the one factor structure on a new sample. These initial findings showed that some cultural factors might be influential in the measurement of tolerance levels. However, the single-factor structure of the scale, like that of the original, suggested that the concept of tolerance could be discussed as a psychological phenomenon with a single dimension. In further research, the factor structure of the scale can be examined on various samples, including adolescents or adults. Moreover, the predictive validity of the scale can also be investigated to test its ability to predict undesirable behaviors, such as violence.

Keywords: Tolerance Scale, validity, reliability, Iranian college students.