Testing the latent structure, factorial equivalence, and external correlates of the brief self-control scale in a community sample of Spanish adults

The Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) is a 13-item personality measure capturing how people differ in their capacity to exert self-control. Although the BSCS was originally regarded as a one-dimensional scale, subsequent psychometric studies have provided support for the empirical distinction of two a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2024-02, Vol.19 (2), p.e0296719-e0296719
Main Authors: Torres-Marín, Jorge, Gómez-Benito, Juana, Guerrero, Estefania, Guilera, Georgina, Barrios, Maite
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Evaluation
Medical screening
Self-control
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Summary:The Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) is a 13-item personality measure capturing how people differ in their capacity to exert self-control. Although the BSCS was originally regarded as a one-dimensional scale, subsequent psychometric studies have provided support for the empirical distinction of two and four interrelated but distinct components of self-control. Using a large sample of Spanish adults (n = 1,558; 914 female, 58.7%), we performed a comprehensive data-driven comparison of the most well-established item-level latent structures for the BSCS. Results showed that the differentiation between general self-discipline and impulse control offered a better fit to the observed data than did the unidimensional representation of self-control. This two-dimensional structure for the BSCS scores was also supported in terms of its internal consistency, measurement invariance across gender and age groups, and meaningful correlations with wellbeing-related indicators and Big Five personality traits. Plausible implications of these findings are discussed.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0296719