A gender-based measurement invariance study of the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3

The current study sought to explore the measurement invariance of the SATAQ-3 across gender using a single mixed gender sample consisting of 122 men and 268 women. Participants’ age ranged from 18 to 36 years (M = 19.6, SD = 1.9). Preliminary results indicate that the 28 item scale was a poor fit for either gender in the current sample. Reverse scored items were deleted as they formed a unique method factor with low factor loadings. The resulting 21 items were a good fit to the hypothesized four factor model for both males and females and established evidence of both strict factorial invariance and population heterogeneity across groups. Coefficient alpha estimates of internal consistency reliability ranged from .79 to .94. These findings support use of the SATAQ-3 in mixed gender samples and validate previous research that reported analysis of gender-based mean differences.

Research highlights
► A structural analysis for a mixed gender sample of women (N = 268) and men (N = 122) was conducted using a 21 item version of the SATAQ-3.
► Gender specific (n = 2) and negatively worded (n = 7) items were removed from the original 30 item scale.
► Strict factorial invariance and population heterogeneity was supported across gender.
► Coefficient alpha estimates of internal consistency of the four factors ranged from .79 to .94.