Development and Validation of the Forbearance Scale

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Sciences

Background:

• Forbearance is crucial for societal peace and healthy relationships.
• Existing measures lack psychometric soundness for assessing forbearance's multi-dimensional nature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a psychometrically sound, multi-dimensional measure of forbearance.
• To introduce the Forbearance Scale (FS) as a novel personality assessment tool.

Main Methods:

• Scale items generated via focus groups with college students.
• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) used with a college sample (n=466).
• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) cross-validated factor structure with a community sample (n=579).

Main Results:

• The Forbearance Scale (FS-16) emerged with 16 items across four factors: emotional calmness, overlooking misdeeds, tolerance and acceptance, and self-restraint.
• Hierarchical multiple regression analyses supported the convergent and concurrent validity of the FS-16.
• The FS-16 demonstrated robust psychometric properties across diverse samples.

Conclusions:

• The FS-16 is a validated instrument for measuring the complex construct of forbearance.
• This scale offers a valuable tool for psychological research and personality assessment.
• The findings highlight the importance of forbearance in interpersonal and societal well-being.