Abstract
Current theoretical proposals suggest the potential of sport to help athletes develop their critical consciousness (CC). This study proposes the initial development of the Critical Consciousness in Sport Scale (CCSS), offering initial validity evidence based on test content, internal structure, relations with other variables, and reliability. Based on Paulo Freire, CC comprises three components: Critical Reflection, Political Efficacy, and Critical Action. An initial pool of 50 items was developed around four central themes: (a) racism (e.g., Black people are victims of racism in sport); (b) gender inequality (e.g., I can contribute to fostering gender equality in sport); (c) sexism (e.g., I support the LGBTQ community in sport on social media); and (d) socioeconomic inequality (e.g., I participate in activities that promote social equality in sport). The items were evaluated by three expert researchers/PhDs in psychology, pedagogy, and sociology of sport, who confirmed their practical relevance and theoretical adequacy. The sample comprised 263 Brazilian psychology and physical education students with sport experience (mean age: 26.95 ± 9.69; 70.02% women). Factor rotation methods, including Parallel Analysis, Exploratory Graph Analysis, and Categorical Exploratory Factor Analysis, revealed a three-dimensional structure of 36 items, as theoretically hypothesized, with desirable internal consistency indices (ω = .868, .906, and .924, respectively). The pattern of correlations between factors corresponded to the theoretical model, and the correlation with measures of Social Justice and Anti-racism Efficacy suggested validity evidence based on relations with other variables. The results suggest that the instrument is an appropriate measure of CC in sport.
