Measuring democratic values in primary school children: Development and confirmatory factor analysis of a new survey instrument

The internalization of democratic values in childhood is essential for fostering resilient democracies. Despite its importance, research on democratic values in children remains scarce due to methodological challenges. This study aims to develop and evaluate the factorial validity of a new survey instrument measuring five democratic values (participation, equality, following rules, renunciation of violence, and freedom of opinion) in primary school children. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed using data from 429 third- and fourth-grade pupils in Germany to assess the instrument’s validity. CFA results indicate that most scales—particularly equality, following rules, and renunciation of violence—demonstrate structural validity, while the scales for participation and freedom require further revision. Limitations of the study include the text-heavy survey design and the moderate sample size, precluding advanced invariance testing. Nevertheless, this study provides initial evidence for the feasibility of employing CFA to validate measures of democratic values in children and highlights important directions for future research to enhance the reliability and validity of these instruments.