Abstract

Purpose: A new measure of sportspersonship, which differentiates between compliance and
principled approaches was developed and initially validated in three studies. Methods: Study
1 developed items, assessed content validity, and proposed a model. Study 2 tested the
factorial validity of the model on an independent sample. Study 3 further tested the factorial
validity on another independent sample as well as the construct validity. Results: In Study 1,
a 71-item questionnaire was developed. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the questionnaire
to a 6-factor, 33-item scale explaining 47.70% of the variance. Study 2 tested this revised
questionnaire in a series of confirmatory factor analyses, presenting a 24-item and 5-factor
model with acceptable fit; χ2(242) = 455.9, CFI = .93, TLI = .92, SRMR = .05, RMSEA =
.04. Study 3 provided some evidence to support the construct validity of the 24-item scale
using theoretically associated measures. Conclusions: This series of studies provided some
initial validity evidences of the Compliant and Principled Sportspersonship Scale.