Revision and validation of the prosocialness scale for adults (PSA) among chinese college students

BACKGROUND: Although prosocial behavior plays an important role in the development of individuals, there are few prosocial measurements for college students. This study examines the applicability of the Prosocialness Scale for Adults to a sample of Chinese college students and provides a measurement tool for prosocial behavior among Chinese college students. METHODS: Three sub-studies were conducted in this study to revise the Prosocialness Scale for Adults (PSA) and verify its applicability in Chinese college students. In Study 1, the translated Prosocialness Scale for Adults (PSA) was used to test (N = 436). In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out (N = 576). The Scale of School Adjustment for College Students, the Scale of Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy, the Prosocial Tendencies Measure, and the Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory were used to test the concurrent validity. And the internal consistency reliability of the scale was tested. In Study 3, the test-retest reliability of the scale was tested 4 weeks after the completion of Study 2. RESULTS: The results show that the scale has a good single-factor structure (χ2/df = 4.180, CFI = 0.936, TLI = 0.922, GFI = 0.937, IFI = 0.937, NFI = 0.919, AGFI = 0.907, RMSEA = 0.074, SRMR = 0.042). The total score was positively correlated with the scores of the Scale of Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (r = 0.394, p < 0.001), the Scale of School Adjustment for College Students (r = 0.429, p < 0.001), the Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory (r = 0.456, p < 0.001) ,and the Prosocial Tendencies Measure (r = 0.619, p < 0.001). The internal consistency reliability was robust (α = 0.890) and the test-retest reliability was 0.801. CONCLUSION: These studies show that the Chinese version of the Prosocialness Scale for Adults (PSA) has good reliability and validity and can be used to measure the prosocial behavior of Chinese college students. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-023-01124-3.