Reliablity And Validity Of The Kiddie Mach Scale In Chinese Children

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Kiddie Mach Scale(KMS-C), and to explore the gender and age differences in Chinese children with Machiavellianism; To explore the relations among sophistication, empathy and prosocial behavior, and to test the mediator effect of empathy between sophistication and prosocial behavior.MethodsThe Chinese version of Kiddie Mach Scale(KMS-C) was developed using the back-translation method and was administered to a sample of Chinese students (n=835)aged 9 to 13.Results1. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the original model obtained in the previous sample did not fit this Chinese sample well. However, the deletion of four items (items 5,9,15, and 20) resulted in a modified model with three identifiable factors (distrust, lack of faith in human nature and dishonesty). Factor 1 consisted of seven items (18,7,8,12,13,5) related to trust; Factor 2 consisted of seven items (11,10,2,14,17,9,16,1) related to beliefs about positive aspects of human nature, and therefore was labeled Lack of faith in human nature; Factor 3comprised four items (19,6,4,3) related to attitudes towards telling lies, and therefore was labeled Dishonesty.2. The revision of Kiddie Mach Scale exhibited satisfactory internal consistency and moderate test-retest reliability. The test-retest correlations were 0.64 for the Total score,0.66 for Distrust,0.60 for Lack of faith in human nature, and 0.59 for Dishonesty; Cronbach's a coefficient was calculated to examine the internal consistency, coefficients were 0.62 for the Total score,0.51 for Distrust,0.58 for Lack of faith in human nature, and 0.23 for Dishonesty; The Split-half reliability was.67.3. Boys scored significantly higher than girls in the levels of Distrusttotal scores.4. There were significant differences in the levels of three factors and total scores between different age groups, elder scored higher than junior. 5. There were not significant gender differences in sophistication, empathy and prosocial behavior (P>0.05);6. Students of grade 8 had higher scores in sophistication than students of grade 7 and 9 (39.37±7.98,34.41±6.82,35.82±6.52, P<0.05); students of grade 9 had higher scores in empathy and prosocial behavior than students of grade 7 (64.74±4.22,58.53±8.81, P<0.01), (7.82±1.65,6.75±1.74, P<0.05).7. Sophistication, empathy and prosocial behavior were significantly correlated each other (P<0.05-0.01).8. Empathy had total mediator effect between sophistication and prosocial behavior, the percentage of mediator effect was 36.38%;9. Sophistication, empathy, and prosocial behavior have close relationship, and Sophistication affect prosocial behavior through empathyConclusion1. As the Chinese version of Kiddie Mach Scale indicated good psychometrics properties with adequate reliability and validity, it is appropriate for assessing empathy in Chinese children;2. Boys scored significantly higher than girls in the levels of Distrusts and the total scale, this shows that boys were more Sophisticated than girls;3. There were significant differences in the levels of three factors and total scores between different age groups, elder scored higher than junior;4. The gender differences is not significant in three variables; elder scored higher in the levels of empathy and prosocial behavior than junior, but the students of grade 8 show a more sophisticated understanding;5. Empathy has mediator effect between sophistication and prosocial behavior.