Measurement invariance and latent mean differences of the morbid curiosity scale (MCS) across the United States and China

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing body of research focusing on morbid curiosity. However, the development of measurement tools has been slow, with only two scales available. Compared to the unidimensional scale of Curiosity About Morbid Events (CAME) proposed by Zuckerman and Little (1986), the recently developed four-factor Morbid Curiosity Scale (MCS) by Scrivner (2021) demonstrates a stable factor structure and good reliability and validity. As the time since the development of this scale is relatively short, its measurement properties have not been widely evaluated. Therefore, this study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to validate the factor structure of the MCS in the Chinese cultural context, and the results supported the four-factor structure of the MCS. Additionally, we established partial scalar invariance of the MCS between Chinese (N = 663) and American (N = 330) cultures, and further analyzed cultural differences in morbid curiosity using latent mean comparison. The results revealed that Chinese individuals had a lower motivation for understanding the minds of dangerous people. This study validated the four-factor Morbid Curiosity Scale across different cultures for the first time, promoting the generalizability of the four-factor MCS and suggesting its potential for use in a wide range of cultural backgrounds. These findings contribute to enriching cross-cultural research on morbid curiosity and its associated psychological factors.