Development of the Esports Orientation Tendency Scale (ESOTS)

The rapid growth of esports has led to increasing participation among middle and late adolescents, raising the need for theoretically grounded and psychometrically sound instruments to assess adolescents’ orientation toward esports. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the Esports Orientation Tendency Scale (ESOTS), a multidimensional instrument designed to assess adolescents’ orientation toward esports as a technology-mediated leisure tendency. Following established scale development guidelines, an eight-step procedure was employed, including theoretical framework development, item pool generation, expert review, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability assessment, and the evaluation of criterion-related and nomological validity. Data were collected from three independent adolescent samples (N = 829): Sample 1 (n = 300) was used for EFA, Sample 2 (n = 400) for CFA, and Sample 3 (n = 129) for nomological validity testing and supplementary structural (path) modeling and analyzed using EFA, CFA, and structural modeling techniques. The final version of the ESOTS consists of 55 items across six dimensions: Digital Gaming Passion, Leisure Time Utilization, Ease of Access to Esports, Financial Gain, Absence of Demographic Barriers, and Popularity. Results supported the six-factor structure and demonstrated satisfactory model fit, strong internal consistency, and adequate convergent and discriminant validity. Nomological validity analyses indicated that esports orientation is strongly associated with technology acceptance constructs and gaming disorder symptoms, while remaining unrelated to general psychological well-being and academic performance. Overall, the findings indicate that the ESOTS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing adolescents’ orientation toward esports. The scale provides a nuanced framework for examining esports engagement as a multidimensional orientation and may be useful for research and applied settings aiming to better understand patterns of esports participation and potential risk-related outcomes under specific conditions.