Designing and Validating of Social Problem Solving Test Based on the Stories of Kalileh and Demneh

The ability to solve social problems is one of the skills and capabilities related to culture in today's world, where group cooperation and presence in a collective context are highly emphasized. The aim of this study was designing and validating a tool tomeasure social problem solving based on the stories of Kalileh and Demeneh.

The research method was a mixed exploratory type based on the integration of the Thematic analysismethod in the first stage (qualitative) and the tool development model in the second stage. In the qualitative section the Kalileh and Demaneh book were evalited. The quantitative part was conducted with the participation of 336 teenage students in the agerange of 12 to 20 years and targeted sampling. The data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of 43 questions. Data was analyzed using MAXQUDA software, LISREL-8.8, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis method and SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill. Coding reliability was calculated using Kappa method equal to 0.95. The content validity of the scale was confirmed using experts' opinions.

The questionnaire for measuring social problemsolving skills based on the stories of Kalila and Demeneh included the components of emotions and their management, thinking and decision-making, interpersonal communication, consultation, the way of dealing with problems and the attitude towards problem solving. Criterion validity of this questionnaire was confirmed based on Pearson's correlation coefficient equal to 0.63, for solving the social problem of D’Zurilla at the level of 0.001. The reliability of the tool was obtained using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the overall scale and the six dimensions identified as 0.92, 0.75, 0.72, 0.87, 0.72, 0.90 and 0.83 respectively.

The study showed that the social problem solving skill measurement scale based on the stories of Kalila and Demenehhas acceptable reliability and validity.