Dimensionality, Item Response Theory, Effect Size Attenuation, and Test Bias Analyses of the Self-Importance of Moral Identity Scale (SIMIS)

The extent to which morality and being a moral person are important to one's identity is most commonly assessed using Aquino and Reed's ( 2002 ) Self-Importance of Moral Identity Scale (SIMIS). This study provided detailed psychometric examinations of the structure and discrimination levels of the SIMIS in a large (N = 2108) and heterogeneous sample. Results indicated that the SIMIS is clearly 2-dimensional, as expected. The Internalization and Symbolization subscales provided sufficient, and sometimes high levels of test information across the latent trait continuums. There were no redundant items and no bias based on gender. The most notable, albeit minor, shortcomings were that there are too many response options and that test information (discrimination power) was diminished at high levels of the Internalization latent trait continuum, apparently due to skewness. The fluctuating levels of measurement precision resulted in slightly greater attenuations in effect sizes for Internalization than for Symbolization across data for 31 other measures. The present findings from a large dataset and a variety of modern, revealing statistical methods provided relatively consistent, favorable findings for the measure.