Psychometric properties of the Family Allocentrism Scale among Japanese adults

The Family Allocentrism Scale (FAS) was developed to assess individual differences in allocentrism-idiocentrism with reference to the family. To date, no prior study has adequately investigated the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the FAS in Japanese samples, although Japanese culture is considered as a symbol of an interdependent (or collectivist) culture. This study attempted to demonstrate the validity of the factor structure and the convergent validity of the Japanese version of the FAS in a sample of Japanese adults. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed a lack of fit of the one-factor model for all FAS items but the fit improved to the acceptable level if some items with low factor loadings were removed. The internal consistency measure (Cronbach's alpha) of the FAS indicated an acceptable level of reliability. The results also showed that the FAS scores were closely related to the scores of horizontal collectivism, vertical collectivism, and interdependence. Our findings indicate the validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the FAS, thereby providing a validated tool for the investigation of cross-cultural differences in family allocentrism-idiocentrism.