Instruments Measuring Fatalism: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the existing scales for fatalism, along with information regarding their methodological robustness. A systematic search was conducted in PsycINFO (PsycARTICLES and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences), PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, and Web of Science. Articles were selected if they described a Self-Report questionnaire properly designated for assessing fatalism (both original developments and further validations), if they included a measure in which fatalism is the core construct rather than a subscale of a multidimensional scale, and if they were published in peer-reviewed journals in the English language. The methodological quality of the retrieved instruments was appraised using Skinner’s (1981) validity evidence framework. From the starting number of 1,210 records, the screening process led to 16 studies examining the psychometric properties of eight instruments. Our findings offer a general overview of the available fatalism scales, providing evidence of the variety of ways in which fatalism has been conceptualized and assessed. The systematic analysis, the rigorous methodological appraisal, and the critical discussion about the reported scales’ features may represent a useful guide for scholars and practitioners in choosing measures with a high level of quality for their research aims. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed