Measurement of a Latino cultural value: The Simpatía scale.

• DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000324
• Publication Date: 2020-02-27T15:58:48Z
• Authors: Amanda M. Acevedo; Clara Herrera; Sharon Shenhav; Ilona S. Yim; Belinda Campos
• Keywords: Motivation; Psychometrics; Surveys and Questionnaires; 05 social sciences; Humans; Reproducibility of Results; Interpersonal Relations; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences; Hispanic or Latino; Self Report; Factor Analysis, Statistical

Simpatía, a term that captures the tendency to prefer and create social interactions characterized by warmth and emotional positivity while also avoiding conflict and/or overt negativity, is a cultural factor relevant to Latinos. The goal of this article was to develop a scale that measures this cultural value.A self-report scale measure of simpatía was developed and administered to a combined sample of Latinos (N = 296) drawn from 3 larger studies. The scale's factor structure was explored, and its internal consistency and validity were tested.Exploratory factor analysis supported an 18-item scale and indicated 2 factors: simpatía-related positivity/warmth and simpatía-related negativity/conflict avoidance. Cronbach's alphas for the overall scale and subscales showed internal consistency. Validity analyses revealed that across subscales, simpatía was positively associated with positive emotion expressivity and dispositional positive emotion. The simpatía-related positivity/warmth subscale was also positively associated with an orientation toward Latino culture.The Simpatía Scale, which captures dual aspects of simpatía that emphasize the positive and avoid the negative, provides a new tool for advancing the study of Latino culture. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).