The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3: a confirmatory factor analysis

Body Image. 2008 Mar;5(1):116-21. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2007.10.001. Epub 2008 Jan 9.

Abstract

The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 measures awareness and endorsement of societal appearance standards. The instrument has been subjected to exploratory factor analyses but to date no studies have reported a priori tests of its hypothesized factor structure using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The aim of the present study was to subject the SATAQ-3 to a CFA. Results from a non-clinical convenience sample of 369 women revealed an adequate fit of the model according to conventional criteria. However, detailed residual analysis indicated a significant lack of fit which was explainable by one mis-specified item and shared method variance due to similarities in item content. It was concluded that, with the removal of the mis-specified item, the degree of misfit was tolerable and the intended four-factor solution provides a satisfactory and parsimonious representation of the data.

Publication types

  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attitude / ethnology*
  • Body Image*
  • Culture*
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Personal Satisfaction
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Social Desirability*
  • Social Environment*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*