Validation of the Social Innovation Tendency Scale in Mexico

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Education

Background:

• Social innovation is crucial for sustainable development.
• Measuring individual tendencies toward social innovation is essential for targeted interventions.
• Existing instruments may not be suitable for diverse cultural contexts like Mexico.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Social Innovation Tendency Scale for the Mexican population.
• To examine the psychometric properties of the scale in a university student sample.
• To establish a reliable instrument for assessing social innovation at the individual level.

Main Methods:

• The Social Innovation Tendency Scale was administered to 1129 university students in Mexico.
• Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the scale's structure.
• Psychometric properties, including convergent validity and invariance, were assessed.

Main Results:

• The original unidimensional structure was not supported.
• A two-dimensional structure emerged: behavioral elements and attitudinal elements.
• The revised scale demonstrated strong psychometric properties and acceptable fit indices.

Conclusions:

• The Social Innovation Tendency Scale, with its revised two-dimensional structure, is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring social innovation tendencies in Mexican university students.
• The findings support the scale's suitability for assessing social innovation competencies in higher education.
• This validated instrument can inform the integration of social innovation into professional training for sustainable development.