Fostering Positive Attitudes toward Animals: Validation of an Empathy for Animals Module for Upper Elementary Students in Indonesia

Empathy toward animals plays an important role in developing children’s positive attitudes toward animals. However, validated educational modules and culturally appropriate assessment tools for Indonesian elementary school students are still limited. This research comprised two sequential studies. Study 1 focused on developing and validating the Empathy for Animals Module and adapting the Animal Attitude Scale-10 (AAS-10) for Indonesian upper elementary students. Study 2 examined the module’s preliminary effectiveness in improving students’ attitudes toward animals. Study 1 included expert content validation, readability testing, cross-cultural adaptation of the AAS-10, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability testing. Study 2 used a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test control group design with 46 fourth-grade students assigned to experimental and control groups. In Study 1, the module showed strong content validity, with Aiken’s V values ranging from 0.82 to 0.92, and excellent readability, with an FVI of 0.90. The adapted AAS-10 maintained a one-factor structure and demonstrated good internal consistency, with Cronbach’s α = 0.870. In Study 2, the experimental group’s mean attitude score increased from 33.42 to 37.42, while the control group showed no significant improvement. Gain score analysis indicated a significant difference between the groups (p = 0.032), suggesting that the module was effective in enhancing students’ attitudes toward animals. The Empathy for Animals Module and the adapted Animal Attitude Scale-10 (AAS-10) showed satisfactory psychometric properties and are appropriate for Indonesian upper elementary school students. The module also demonstrated preliminary effectiveness in improving students’ attitudes toward animals.