Factorial invariance of the Questionnaire of Attributional Styles in the area of academic achievement in Mexican university students

Abstract

The present study analyzed the psychometric properties of the Questionnaire of Attributional Styles in the area of academic achievement; its goal is to assess the attributive patterns in the field of academic achievement adapted by Jurado, Blanco, Zueck & Peinado (2016) in men and women university students. The overall sample consisted of 1188 subjects: 626 women and 562 men, with a mean age of 20.53 ± 1.82 years and 20.83 ± 1.97 years, respectively. The psychometric analysis was applied in two stages: 1) factorial confirmatory analysis and 2) invariance factorial analysis. According to the established psychometric requirements, the factor structure, factor loadings, and intercepts of the instrument could be considered invariant across groups; however, there are differences between groups for the means of factors, attribution to luck, attribution to skill, and attribution to teacher. The results showed that a tetra-factorial structure (attribution to luck, attribution to effort, attribution to skill, and attribution to teacher) was viable and adequate for both populations (men and woman).