Contesting orientations: Measure construction and the prediction of sportspersonship ☆

Objective

This three-study investigation was undertaken to develop, validate, and test the Contesting Orientations Scale (COS), a new measure designed to assess individuals' tendencies to use contest-is-partnership and contest-is-war conceptual metaphors (i.e., contesting orientations) when competing (Shields & Bredemeier, 2009, 2011a).

Design

The research design was correlational. Following preliminary item creation and expert review, survey based studies were conducted to develop theoretically-based, psychometrically sound scales measuring contesting orientations.

Method

In Study 1, an  exploratory factor analysis  (EFA) was performed on a preliminary 39-item COS administered to a sample of high school athletes (N = 233). Study 2 used EFA to evaluate a revised 23- item COS with a second sample of high school athletes (N = 92) resulting in a final reduction of the measure to twelve items.  Confirmatory factor analysis  (CFA) was then conducted on this 12-item COS, which proved an excellent fit to the data. A new sample of college athletes (N = 238) allowed Study 3 to (a) further examine the factorial validity of the COS, including gender invariance testing, (b) assess the concurrent validity of the COS via its correlations with goal orientations,  empathy , moral identity, and moral disengagement; and, (c) assess the COS's incremental predictive utility for investigations of sportspersonship.

Results and conclusion

Results from the sequence of studies demonstrate that the 12-item, two-scale COS has good  psychometric properties as assessed through EFA and CFA, good concurrent validity, and adds significantly to existing measures in the prediction of sportspersonship.