The development and validation of the Ummatic personality inventory

Abstract

Islamic personality is the pillar of human civilisational development. It characterises the good human capitals that perform the task of building the civilisation that conforms to the tenets of Islam. Some of the most important values that form the core of this personality are Ibadah, Amanah and Ilm. In this study, the three subject matters, namely, Ibadah, Amanah and Ilm have been selected to compose a tool of assessment which is called the Ummatic Personality Inventory. Many tests have been developed in the west and elsewhere based on their culture and paradigms. The present effort is an attempt to cultivate a new model based on Ummatic Paradigm. The Ummatic Personality Inventory is devised with a specific framework. It intends to be an assessment tool for selfintrospection (muhasabah) and self-improvement (islah). Central to this idea is one would be able to identify the area where improvements could be made as far as his personality as a Muslim is concerned. This research was conducted at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Gombak, Selangor and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, Johor. The sample size was 588. The instrument has been devised and validated through a scientific method to ensure its reliability and validity. Cronbach’s alpha was used to test its reliability. Two advanced statistical methods were used, namely the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). PCA was used to identify the underlying dimensions for each construct of the instrument. CFA was used to confirm the dimensions and to analyse the fitness of the collected data in the hypothesized model. The results provide evidence that the developed instrument achieved sound psychometric properties. The reliability test indicated that the instrument was reliable given the overall reliability value of Cronbach’s Alpha was .963. The findings revealed that with the use of PCA, Ibadah construct produced 5 significant factors, Amanah construct generated 5 factors and Ilm construct produced 2 factors. The CFA results showed that the goodness-of-fit indices for the revised model were as follows: CMIN/DF=4.634; GFI=.953; CFI=.965; TLI=.942 and RMSEA=.079; each of the indices was above the threshold values. Analysis of the measurement invariance across samples confirmed the instrument’s factorial validity. In conclusion, this study has produced a prototype of the Ummatic Personality Inventory which achieved sound psychometric properties and contributed to the development of a novel psychological instrument from the Islamic perspective.