Cyber human values scale (i-value): the study of development, validity and reliability

The purpose of this paper is to develop a scale to measure the level of cyber human values based on the behaviors of social media users in cyberspace.

The paper is based on a scale-development process by following a systematic approach. First, the current scales were examined; following this, focus group interviews were held; next, an item pool was formed; and the validity and reliability of the items were tested. The validity and reliability studies of the scale were conducted with 1,495 social media users. An application on Facebook was used to collect the data.

As a result of the validity study, 25 items under five factors were obtained. These factors were being peaceful, truth, solidarity, respect and tolerance. The items obtained were capable of discriminating the individuals in terms of the features to be measured by the scale. In addition, the scale was confirmed to measure correctly the structure obtained in line with the fit indices. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was 0.90 and split-half reliability coefficient was 0.88.

The sample has several limitations. Most of the participants were male and the data were collected on social media. Thus, to enhance the validity and reliability of the scale, further in-depth qualitative and cross-cultural studies should be examined.

This study could provide convenience for practitioners about how to diagnose the cyber human values of the internet users in cyberspace.

It was concluded that this scale was valid, reliable and beneficial to measure social media users’ levels of cyber human values.