Altruistic Attitudes Among Older Adults: Examining Construct Validity and Measurement Invariance of a New Scale.

Abstract

Background and ObjectivesScholarly research has established the role of altruism in facilitating human cooperation and prosocial behaviors and highlighted its contribution to psychological well-being. Given the health significance of altruistic attitudes and orientations, we developed a valid and reliable measure of this construct that is suitable for use with older adults.Research Design and MethodsBased on data from a long-term panel study on adaptation to frailty among older adults (n = 366; mean age = 86 years), we used confirmatory factor analysis to perform construct validation of a five-item Elderly Care Research Center Altruism Scale among older adults (e.g., “Seeing others prosper makes me happy”). Moreover, we examined the invariance of the scale’s factor structure across time and gender using nested models.ResultsComposite reliability (coefficient omega = 0.78), factor loadings (>0.45 with eigenvalue = 2.84) from exploratory factor analysis, and model fit indices (e.g., comparative fit index = 0.999) from confirmatory factor analysis suggest a single factor, supporting a unidimensional reliable construct of altruistic orientation at baseline. The results provided support for configural, metric, and scalar invariance across time. Findings pertaining to measurement invariance across gender confirmed full configural invariance but only offered support for partial metric, scalar, and residual invariance at baseline. Strong correlations among the altruism scale, salient personality traits, psychological well-being, religiosity, and meaning in life help establish construct validity.Discussion and ImplicationsThe availability of a reliable and valid measure of altruistic attitudes enables a comprehensive evaluation of altruism’s influence on later-life health and well-being.