Development of a social responsibility scale for Chinese university students

This study develops a new scale to measure Chinese university students’ social responsibility—Chinese university students’ social responsibility scale (CUSSRS). The scale is developed in a sample of 646 university students, which includes 274 males and 372 females, the average age of the students is 19.6 (SD = 1.3). The findings from the exploratory factor analysis (N = 325) provide evidence for a 4-factor solution, which together explains 59.7% of the total item variance. A confirmatory factor analysis (N = 321) suggests that the model fits better in a different sample. The CUSSRS includes 17 items and shows better internal consistency of 0.87, the internal consistency of the subscales range from 0.71 to 0.83, and the 2-week test-retest reliability is 0.79. It shows better validity, and can be used as a useful instrument for measuring Chinese university students’ social responsibility. Furthermore, the CUSSRS might contribute to the comparative study of social responsibility in different social and cultural contexts.