Developing Prosocial Behavior in Peer Relationships Scale Among College Students

Abstract

Prosocial behaviors, performed voluntarily by thinking of others, are crucial in maintaining relationships. Although prosocial behaviors are exhibited in every period of life, the frequency or form of these behaviors varies across life stages. Also, peer relationships have an increasing impact on behavior in adolescence and then young adulthood. Purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure the prosocial behaviors of university students in peer relationships. The scale was applied to a total of 484 university students, 392 of whom were female and 91 of whom were male. The results of the exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale consisted of 19 items and one factor. In the second stage of the study, confirmatory factor analysis was performed with the data collected from 494 university students, 390 female and 104 male, and the one-factor structure of the scale was confirmed (chi 2/df = 3.05 (chi 2 = 463.842, df = 152), RMSEA = .064 95% [.058-.071], SRMR = .032, CFI = .950, TLI = .943). Cronbach's Alpha (.920) and McDonald's Omega (.921) were calculated to test the reliability of the scale. These results suggest that Prosocial Behavior in Peer Relationships Scale provides valid and reliable measurements for assessing university students' prosocial behaviors in peer relationships.