Money Ethic Scale – MES
Measures an individual's attitudes, beliefs, and values regarding money across multiple dimensions including achievement, budget, and freedom.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Money Ethic Scale – MES was developed by Thomas Li-Ping Tang (1990). It is designed to measure Attitude toward money. The scale is intended for use with Adults / Employees.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 30 items organized into 6 factors/subscales: Good, Evil, Achievement, Respect/Self-esteem, Budget, Freedom/Power.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Good | 1,2,6,11,13,17,22,25,27 | 9 |
| Evil | 4,12,14,16,23,24 | 6 |
| Achievement | 5,7,8,28 | 4 |
| Respect/Self-esteem | 3,10,15,18 | 4 |
| Budget | 26,29,30 | 3 |
| Freedom/Power | 9,19,20,21 | 4 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree).
The scale includes 1 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha: Good (0.81), Evil (0.69), Achievement (0.70), Respect/self-esteem (0.68), Budget (0.72), Freedom/power (0.71).
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.