Design and Psychometrics of Social Indifference Questionnaire

Abstract

Background: Social indifference, with the concept of meaninglessness and apathy towards social conditions, is more prevalent today than in the past. Considering the negative personal and social consequences of this phenomenon, there is a need for its measurement in different societies. In this regard, this study was conducted to design and evaluate the psychometric properties of a Social Indifference Questionnaire. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on all teachers in Isfahan city in 2024. Form validity, content validity (CVR, CVI), criterion validity (divergent and convergent), exploratory factor analysis and reliability (Cronbach's alpha) of the questionnaire were measured. Factor analysis was performed using the varimax rotation method on 267 individuals from 5 educational districts, selected via stratified random sampling. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and Student's t-test were used to report the data. Findings: In the content validity determination stage, 13 items out of 33 questionnaire items and one item in the internal consistency measurement stage were removed. In the stage of exploratory factor analysis, based on the acceptability of the factor load, 19 items were grouped into 4 factors: civic ethics and social responsibility, rule of law and social empathy, socio-political accountability, and socio-economic nationalism, which collectively accounted for 51.78 of the total variance. The reliability, calculated using Cronbach's alpha, was 0.749 for the entire questionnaire and ranged from 0.677 to 0.778 for the subscales. Conclusion: According to the confirmation of the psychometric characteristics of the social indifference questionnaire, the results of this study can be used by researchers, managers, and planners in social, political, and psychological fields as scientific outputs and research documents for planning and measures appropriate to the characteristics of society. © 2025, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.