Cross-Cultural Reliability and Validity of the Aggressively Worded Verbal Aggressiveness Scale

Abstract

This study tested and replicated the reliability and validity of the aggressively worded version of the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (VAS) across two cultures—the United States and Korea—to promote its future use in both U.S. and cross-cultural samples. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 10-item, aggressively worded VAS demonstrated construct validity given its unidimensional factor structure. Acceptable reliabilities were also obtained for samples in the United States, Korea, and the United States and Korea combined. Although there was support for a univariate factor structure for the aggressively worded VAS items in the U.S. and combined samples, the loadings and overall fit for the Korean sample were less strong than in the other samples. Therefore, caution should be used when employing the VAS in cultures other than the United States.