Assessing Intellectual Virtues: The Virtuous Intellectual Character Scale (VICS).

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Character Education

Background:

• Assessing intellectual virtues is crucial for understanding character.
• Existing instruments do not capture virtuous intellectual character as a global construct.
• This research addresses this gap by developing a new assessment scale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a scale for assessing intellectual virtues.
• To investigate the construct validity, reliability, and factorial structure of the Virtuous Intellectual Character Scale (VICS).
• To examine the convergent validity of the VICS with related constructs.

Main Methods:

• Two studies involving 545 and 700 college students were conducted.
• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used to determine the scale's structure.
• Bifactor modeling confirmed a global construct of virtuous intellectual character and its five dimensions: attentiveness, open-mindedness, curiosity, carefulness, and intellectual autonomy.

Main Results:

• The VICS demonstrated good reliability and a validated five-factor structure.
• A bifactor model supported a global virtuous intellectual character construct alongside specific virtues.
• VICS scores correlated positively with intellectual humility, deep thinking, bravery, academic engagement, and well-being, but weakly with emotional well-being.

Conclusions:

• The VICS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing virtuous intellectual character.
• The scale captures both a global construct and specific intellectual virtues.
• The findings highlight the importance of intellectual virtues for academic and psychological outcomes.