PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF ADAPTATION OF THE OXFORD UTILITARIANISM SCALE TO TURKISH

Studies concerning utilitarian judgements have generally relied on sacrificial moral
dilemmas. In their study, Kahane et al. (2017) made distinction between utilitarian
judgements and developed a new scale to measure two dimensions of utilitarianism
namely impartial beneficence and instrumental harm. This study aims to extensively
examine the psychometric properties of adapted version of the Oxford Utilitarianism
Scale in Turkish sample (n=290). Concerning the reliability of the scale, internal
consistency and item-total correlation coefficients are found to be satisfactory.
Consistent with the original scale two factor model was supported (2 factor solution
was explained 54.24% of total variance) and confirmatory factor analysis revealed an
adequate fit. As for the validity studies, convergent validity of the scale is supported
revealing the association of OUS total, impartial beneficence and instrumental harm
with conceptually related measures, which included sub-clinical psychopathy,
empathy and perspective taking. The theoretical and practical implications of this
study are discussed.