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Temporal Stability and Cross-National Consistency of the Dimensional Structure of the Sexual Attraction Questionnaire (SAQ)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Juan Fernández ,
Mª Ángeles Quiroga ,
Isabel Del Olmo ,
Chiara Buizza  and
Antonio Imbasciati
Juan Fernández*
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Mª Ángeles Quiroga
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Isabel Del Olmo
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Chiara Buizza
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Brescia (Italy)
Antonio Imbasciati
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Brescia (Italy)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Juan Fernández Sánchez. Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Campus de Somosaguas, 28223 Madrid (Spain). E-mail: jfernandez@psi.ucm.es
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Abstract

The Sexual Attraction Questionnaire (SAQ) was designed to measure sexual attraction (Fernández, Quiroga, & Rodríguez, 2006), because the current questionnaires were considered inadequate. The purpose of this research was to test whether the SAQ factors remain meaningful after several years (stability) and whether the Italian version is equivalent to the Spanish one (consistency). Three groups of university students participated: two from Spain (n = 182 and 255, respectively) and one from Italy (n = 293). The Spanish groups were tested with a 7-year interval (2001-2008). The Italian group was tested in 2008. The main hypotheses were to test, across time interval and countries: (a) factor congruence, (b) predictive power of factors (proportion of variance accounted for), and (c) scale reliability. Sexual attraction typology also was analyzed, within and between countries, to test the validity of the underlying theoretical model. The results obtained show that the SAQ factor structure remains the same, the resulting factors have high predictive power, and the SAQ scales are highly reliable. Sexual dimorphism and sexual attraction typology are highly associated, thus validating the underlying theoretical model.

El Cuestionario de Atracción Sexual (CAS) se creó para valorar la atracción sexual (Fernández, Quiroga, & Rodríguez, 2006) debido a la ausencia de instrumentos específicos. Se pretende analizar ahora si la estructura dimensional del CAS permanece estable con el paso del tiempo y si es semejante en la versión italiana. Participaron tres grupos de estudiantes universitarios: dos españoles (182 y 255) y uno italiano (293). Los datos del primer grupo español se obtuvieron en 2001 y los del segundo en 2008, junto con los del grupo italiano. Las hipótesis se centran en analizar: (a) la congruencia de las estructuras factoriales; (b) el poder predictivo de los factores (proporción de varianza explicada) y (c) la fiabilidad de las escalas del CAS, tanto entre países como entre los dos momentos temporales. Además, para poner a prueba la validez del modelo teórico subyacente, se analiza la semejanza en la tipología de la atracción sexual intra e inter-países. Los resultados muestran que la estructura factorial del CAS se mantiene, sus factores poseen un alto poder predictivo y las escalas gozan de alta fiabilidad. El dimorfismo sexual y la tipología de atracción sexual están altamente relacionados, lo que apoya la validez del modelo teórico subyacente.

Keywords

sexual attractionsexual orientationsexual typologyfactor congruence and stabilitycross-national studiesatracción sexualorientación sexualtipología sexualcongruencia y estabilidad factorialestudios interpaíses
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , November 2009 , pp. 725 - 736
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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