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Complex Thinking and Sustainable Social Development: Validity and Reliability of the COMPLEX-21 Scale

Author

Listed:
  • Sergio Tobón

    (Socioformation and Sustainable Development Group, University Center CIFE, Cuernavaca 62140, Mexico
    Global Citizenship and Socioformation, Ekap University, Mount Dora, FL 32757, USA)

  • Josemanuel Luna-Nemecio

    (Socioformation and Sustainable Development Group, University Center CIFE, Cuernavaca 62140, Mexico)

Abstract

Thinking skills are essential to achieve sustainable social development. Nonetheless, there is no specific instrument that assesses all of these skills as a whole. The present study aimed to design and validate a scale to assess complex thinking skills in adult people. A scale of 22 items assessing the following aspects: analysis and problem solving, critical analysis, metacognition, systemic analysis, and creativity, in five levels, was created. This scale was validated in 626 university students from Peru. In total, 16 experts in the field helped to determine the content validity of the scale (Aiken’s V value higher than 0.8). The confirmatory factor analysis allowed the evaluation of the structure of the five factors theoretically proposed and the goodness of fit indexes was satisfactory. An item was eliminated during the process and the scale resulted in 21 items. The composite reliability for the different factors was ranged between 0.794 and 0.867. The invariance between genders was also checked and the concurrent validity was proved. The study concludes that the content validity, construct validity, concurrent validity, and composite reliability levels of the COMPLEX-21 scale are appropriate.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio Tobón & Josemanuel Luna-Nemecio, 2021. "Complex Thinking and Sustainable Social Development: Validity and Reliability of the COMPLEX-21 Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6591-:d:571924
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. José Carlos Vázquez-Parra & Marco Cruz-Sandoval & Martina Carlos-Arroyo, 2022. "Social Entrepreneurship and Complex Thinking: A Bibliometric Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Qi Ruan, 2025. "A philosophical perspective on constructing an information literacy education framework to foster college students’ complex thinking skills," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Carolina Alcantar-Nieblas & Leonardo David Glasserman-Morales & Paloma Suárez-Brito & Susana del Rio-Urenda & Claudia Lorena Tramon-Pregnan & José Carlos Vázquez-Parra, 2025. "Developing future-ready competencies: perceptions of complex thinking among university students in three nations," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Verónica Aguilar-Esteva & Adán Acosta-Banda & Ricardo Carreño Aguilera & Miguel Patiño Ortiz, 2023. "Sustainable Social Development through the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science in Education during the COVID Emergency: A Systematic Review Using PRISMA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Adrian Suarez & Daniel García-Costa & Joaquin Perez & Emilia López-Iñesta & Francisco Grimaldo & Jose Torres, 2023. "Hands-on Learning: Assessing the Impact of a Mobile Robot Platform in Engineering Learning Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    6. David Sotelo & José Carlos Vázquez-Parra & Marco Cruz-Sandoval & Carlos Sotelo, 2023. "Lab-Tec@Home: Technological Innovation in Control Engineering Education with Impact on Complex Thinking Competency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, May.
    7. Martina Carlos-Arroyo & José Carlos Vázquez-Parra & Marco Cruz-Sandoval & Arantza Echaniz-Barrondo, 2023. "Male Chauvinism and Complex Thinking: A Study of Mexican University Students," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-12, April.

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