Psychometric properties of the Slovenian version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale

Sočan, Gregor (author), Kobal Grum, Darja (author)

A sense of community plays an important role in promoting sustainable behaviors and values. Therefore, when measuring sense of community, it is important to ensure that such measurement instruments have excellent psychometric properties. In this study, we start from the model that sense of community is related to a person’s perception of his or her relationship with a community, particularly in terms of need fulfillment, sense of connectedness and emotional connection, and perceived impact on the community. The Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS) is an 8-item self-report scale designed specifically for the assessment of individuals’ relation with their neighborhood. The aim of this study was to investigate the factor structure and reliability of a new Slovenian version. A sample of 502 adults from Slovenia completed the scale. The data did not support the original hierarchical four-factor model. On the other hand, a one-factor model with autoregressive effects on the unique factors fitted well. The reliability of the sum score was excellent, while only two out of the four subscales had acceptable reliability. The results support the use of the Slovenian version of the BSCS as a unidimensional scale and allow the use of this measure in research on sense of community and possibly as a rigorous measure in further studies of sustainable development in different cultures.

• Language: English
• Keywords: sustainable development, sense of community, factor analysis, reliability, cultures, Slovenia, Brief Sense of Community Scale BSCS, community, psychometrics, test reliability
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: 10 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 15, iss. 21, art. 15394
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-153576
• UDC: 159.9.072:316.334.55/.56
• ISSN on article: 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su152115394
• COBISS.SI-ID: 170737411
• Publication date in RUL: 16.01.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Sustainability
• Shortened title: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2071-1050
• COBISS.SI-ID: 5324897

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: trajnostni razvoj, skupnost, merske značilnosti, psihometrija, zanesljivost testa, Slovenija