Measurement of a Latino Cultural Value: The Simpatía Scale

Objective: Simpatía, a term that captures the tendency to prefer and create social interactions characterized by warmth and emotional positivity while also avoiding conflict and/or overt negativity, is a cultural factor relevant to Latinos. The goal of this article was to develop a scale that measures this cultural value. Method: A self-report scale measure of simpatía was developed and administered to a combined sample of Latinos (N = 296) drawn from 3 larger studies. The scale's factor structure was explored, and its internal consistency and validity were tested. Results: Exploratory factor analysis supported an 18-item scale and indicated 2 factors: simpatía-related positivity/warmth and simpatía-related negativity/conflict avoidance. Cronbach's alphas for the overall scale and subscales showed internal consistency. Validity analyses revealed that across subscales, simpatía was positively associated with positive emotion expressivity and dispositional positive emotion. The simpatía-related positivity/warmth subscale was also positively associated with an orientation toward Latino culture. Conclusions: The Simpatía Scale, which captures dual aspects of simpatía that emphasize the positive and avoid the negative, provides a new tool for advancing the study of Latino culture. Public Significance Statement Ethnicity is still too often used as a proxy for culture and, as such, measures are needed to help researchers avoid this limitation. To address this need, we developed and validated the "Simpatía Scale" to measure simpatía, a Latino cultural value that emphasizes warmth/positive emotion expression and avoiding conflict and negativity.