Validating the extended character morality questionnaire

ABSTRACT

The morality of observed others is a central variable for many media effects research areas, including affective disposition theory, social cognitive theory, and entertainment-education. A scale designed to measure five distinct aspects of the morality of characters is validated in a series of six studies (N = 1,204). Findings suggest that the extended character morality questionnaire (CMFQ-X) possesses adequate statistical validity as indicated through confirmatory factory analysis. In addition, the subscales show good internal consistency. Convergent and discriminant validity were assessed through the measurement of other constructs. As expected, scores on the subscales of the CMFQ-X correlated substantially with related constructs and unsubstantially with unrelated constructs. Finally, the validity of a short-form version of the scale (CMFQ-S) for use in studies in which participant fatigue may be an issue is examined.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Data availability statement: Anonymized versions of the datasets generated during and/or analyzed for these studies are available from the corresponding author upon request.

2. To access a file for importing the scale into Qualtrics, see https://osf.io/v5zg6/.

3. The following characters provide a sample of those selected by participants. All characters listed were selected by more than one participant. Positive disposition hero (Superman, n = 8; Batman, n = 6; Spiderman, n = 5; Iron Man, n = 4; Luke Skywalker, n = 2; Captain America, n = 2; The Flash, n = 2); negative disposition hero (Batman, n = 8; Superman, n = 6; Captain America, n = 6; Iron Man, n = 2); positive disposition MAC (Deadpool, n = 8; Batman, n = 4; Jack Bauer, n = 3; James Bond, n = 3; Spiderman, n = 3; Django, n = 2; Dexter Morgan, n = 2; The Joker, n = 2; Lex Luther, n = 2); negative disposition MAC (Dexter Morgan, n = 3; Spiderman, n = 3; Walter White, n = 2; Mad Max, n = 2; Jack Sparrow, n = 2); positive disposition villain (The Joker, n = 10; Voldemort, n = 4; Sauron, n = 2); negative disposition villain (The Joker, n = 14; Darth Vader, n = 2; Voldemort, n = 2; Ramsay Bolton, n = 4).