Study 1 was conducted to further examine the psychometric properties
of the set of items developed in the pretest and to determine how parsimoniously
the propensity to morally disengage could be measured while still
ensuring that the multifaceted nature of the construct was represented by
the scale. Prior to making decisions about scale length, it was also necessary
to thoroughly examine the dimensionality of the construct—that is,
to ensure that moving forward with a unidimensional measure was empirically
justified. Having done this, we used statistical indices and researcher
judgment to select items that created three increasingly shorter measures
of the propensity to morally disengage (a 24-item, 16-item, and 8-item
version). We then compared these three scales’ psychometric properties
and preliminary validity evidence with the goal of determining the most
parsimonious way the construct could be measured without unacceptably
compromising on reliability or validity standards.