Chinese Composite Scale of Morningness: Psychometric Properties of the Full and the Reduced Versions and Their Relevance to Business

Abstract: Purpose: This study translates the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) into Chinese and assesses its psychometric properties and cross-cultural applicability. It also proposes a reduced Chinese CSM. Methods: Chinese students (225 females, 168 males, 393 in total) enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses at a university in China answer the questionnaire in class. Factor analysis with the principal component extraction method is used to analyze the data. Results: The internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .837) of the full Chinese CSM (fcCSM) is comparable to that of the original English scale. The reduced Chinese CSM (rcCSM) consisting of Items 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, and 11 improves the fcCSM by deleting items that are redundant or have poor statistical properties. Its Cronbach’s alpha is .738. Conclusions: Because the rcCSM contains little redundancy and ambiguity, it minimizes the chance of confusing and annoying respondents and thus maximizes response accuracy. The scale is short, easy to understand, easy to use, and applicable for many purposes, such as evaluating respondents’ sleep and wakefulness. Besides, a shorter scale saves a lot of time and costs in administering the questionnaires. Keywords: Chronobiology, Circadian rhythms, Human biological rhythms, Test reliability, Psychometrics, Composite Scale of Morningness Citing This Article: Pornpitakpan, C., Yue, W., & Fu, S. F. I. (2025). Chinese composite scale of morningness: Psychometric properties of the full and the reduced versions and their relevance to business. Global Empirical Marketing Studies, 1(1), Article e2025.02.11. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14841020