Abstract

MIRANDA-RODRIGUEZ, Rubén Andrés; BUXARRAIS ESTRADA, María Rosa  and  MERCADO-RUIZ, Alan Alexis. Psychometric Properties of a Moral Personality Scale in Mexican University Students. Acta de investigación psicol [online]. 2021, vol.11, n.3, pp.36-47.  Epub Mar 14, 2022. ISSN 2007-4719.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fpsi.20074719e.2021.3.391.

The study and measurement of moral personality in university students is considered important to understand essential elements of the ethical aspects that define the training of future professionals. However, in Mexico and Latin America, suggestions have been made in this regard, but the development of instruments that allow evaluating this type of training with quantitative criteria has not been deepened. In this research, we aimed to validate a scale of moral personality in Mexican university students and identify the relationships between moral personality and the big five personality traits. It began with a scale of 36 items originally written in Catalan and addressed to Catalan university students. The items were translated into Spanish and applied to a sample of Mexican university students. The psychometric properties were evaluated to select the items with the best results, followed by an exploratory factor analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis and a Pearson correlation analysis with the big five personality traits as a convergent validity process. The results showed that, although there were marginally acceptable results, various criteria are presented to consider the moral personality scale for Mexican university students as a valid and reliable scale with the three factors raised in the original model and statistically significant correlations with the five big factors. The importance of personality and moral aspects in university education is discussed from an integral point of view in which not only academic aspects are considered, but also aspects of everyday life in general. Suggestions are also made to continue developing evaluation instruments that measure moral aspects of psychology, in such a way that its impact on the behavior of Mexicans can be corroborated with precise evidence, not only at their university level, but also in different areas in those that develop interpersonal relationships where norms, beliefs or values are expressed with codes of behavior based on the distinction between good and evil.

Keywords : Moral personality; University students; Validation; Vocational training; Personality traits.

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