Social axioms on high school students in the North African context: Validation and fit of the SAS-II

Abstract

Social axioms or general social beliefs represent people’s cognitive map of their social world acquired through social experiences. Empirical research has related the central constructs in the study of psychology and social axioms, establishing a broad nomological network in various cultural settings. This paper studies the validity of the Social Axioms Survey II (SAS-II) short form, Spanish version, on the individual level in Melilla as North Africa´s borderland. Participants were 410 high school students from 14 to 18 years of age. The reliability analysis, the discriminant validity analysis, and the confirmatory factor analysis through the structural model equation, showed similar results to previous studies in other contexts and allowing the use of the survey in Melilla. In addition it is presented a fitted model that improves the psychometric results showing significant differences with the initial model. The confirmatory multi-group analysis of the fitted model shows measurement invariance across educational centers, allowing new research possibilities in the cultural context of Melilla.