A development of the delaying gratification scale and its psychometric properties: A preliminary study

Abstract

                 The study aimed to develop the Delaying Gratification Scale (DGS) in terms of validity and reliability. The test was developed based on the concept of delaying gratification as “The mental process expressed by patients, resisting or slowing down the impulses that drive behavior to achieve immediate gratification which results from consideration and expectations of more valuable results in the future”. Data were collected from 310 Thai undergraduate students at Ramkhamhaeng university (61 males, female 244, and other 4 with average of 26.43 years of age, SD = 7.73). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with extraction method of principle component analysis was performed to develop the DGS. Content validity and internal consistency were examined to identify the psychometric properties of the DGS   

                The content validity was evaluated using item-objective congruence (IOC) value, with the IOC value of 0.60 - 1.0. The result of the EFA identified a nine factors structure for the DGS with 36 items. The nine factors including (1) Will power, (2) Waiting ability, (3) Dietary restraint, (4) Sexual restraint, (5) Regardless of the consequences, (6) Academic restraint, (7) Financial restraint, (8) Social relationship restraint, (9) Personal bias together explained 59.562% of total variance. The DGS and its factors showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha for the full DGS = .835 and ranged from .564 - .841 for the nine factors). Therefore, it is concluded that the DGS can be used to assess delaying gratification including able to be applied to related research in the future.