Translation and Validation of the Filipino Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (F-SCQ)

Abstract

Sustainable Development (SD) has undeniably become an important concept worldwide. But sustainability issues are viewed in different contexts and situations. It is believed that cultural context is an important factor that influences human behaviors and values related to society, the economy, and the environment. Language is an essential part of culture. Thus, measurement indicators that are culturally adapted are as important to visualize the efforts toward SD. The present study aims to create a Filipino version of the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ) reflecting the three psychological constructs of knowingness, attitudes, and behavioral items which are related to SD dimensions of social, economic, and environmental. Also, validation of the Filipino SCQ (F-SCQ) by experts and pilot tests as to the conceptual level of the target users and construct validity were done. This study used a cross-sectional, explanatory nonexperimental design with participants composed of 678 male and female aged 18-19 years old. The translation processes go through preparation, translation proper (forward translation), and evaluation (i.e. back translation, bilingual technique, and pretest/cognitive debriefing with 10 target samples) to ensure that the translated instrument is both culturally acceptable and contextually scale relevant to target population. In terms of its factor structure, the results of the second-order factor analysis are as follows: for Sustainability Knowingness, all of the first-order factors (i.e., Environmental, Social, and Economic) were loaded onto a single second-order factor. For Sustainability Attitudes, only the Social and Economic factors were retained; while, for Sustainability Behaviour, only the Environmental and Economic factors were confirmed. Hence, this Filipino version of the SCQ is found to be psychometrically sound and suitable for Filipino adolescents in measuring their sustainability consciousness. Further evaluation is recommended in comparison to the original English SCQ, other age groups; and translation to other Philippine dialects may also be considered in future studies.