ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Quantitative Psychology and Measurement
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1682631
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Measurement Validity in Clinical and Dynamic PsychologyView all 7 articles
Development and Validation of the Embodied Cognition Scale for Chinese University Students
Provisionally accepted
- 1Heze University, Heze, China
- 2Taishan University, Tai'an, China
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The present study aimed to develop and validate an Embodied Cognition Scale (ECS) specifically designed for Chinese university students, providing a culturally grounded tool to assess embodied processes in higher education and mental health contexts. A mixed-methods design was employed across three sequential phases: (1) Qualitative exploration, involving interviews with 27 students and 8 teachers to examine body–environment interactions in academic, artistic, and everyday contexts; (2) Psychometric optimization, through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and item analysis on 465 participants; and (3) National validation, conducted with 918 students across multiple Chinese regions, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and criterion validity testing with the Body Consciousness Scale (BCS).Results supported a five-factor structure—bodily perception, social embodiment, embodied imitation, emotional embodiment, and cognitive reconstruction—which explained 61.15% of the total variance. The model demonstrated robust psychometric properties (Cronbach’s α = 0.954; χ²/df = 4.86, CFI = 0.928, RMSEA = 0.062; HTMT < 0.85), and strong external validity (r = 0.81, p < .001). The Embodied Cognition Scale integrates the Confucian concept of the unity of body and mind with contemporary educational frameworks outlined in China Education Modernization 2035, offering a novel diagnostic and intervention tool for embodied learning and mental health promotion in higher education.
Keywords: Embodied Cognition, Cultural psychometrics, Bodily practice, art education, Chinese college students
Received: 09 Aug 2025; Accepted: 13 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zheng, wang and zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ziyu Zheng, 724070696@qq.com
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