Development of Honor System Justification Scale

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to develop, from the perspective of system justification theory (Jost & Banaji, 1994), an honor system justification (HSJ) scale aimed at evaluating individuals’ tendency to justify the honor system in the society. Initially, a 28-item pool was generated based on honor literature and the phrases expressed in the reports and news. An adult sample consisting of 433 participants (275 women, 158 men; Mage = 31.77, SDage = 7.61) was employed in the study. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested a one-factor 10-item solution, explaining 52.34% of the variance. Factor loadings ranged from .67 to .79 and item-total correlations ranged between .58 and .72. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for HSJ scale was .90. The significant correlation of HSJ with other honor-related variables (honor endorsement, attitudes toward violence against women for protecting honor) as well as other system justification ideologies (gender system justification, benevolent and hostile sexism) demonstrates the scale’s validity. In conclusion, the results of the psychometric analyses showed that HSJ is a reliable and valid self-report measure that can be used in honor-related research. Keywords System justification, honor, gender, scale development