Build a personal space scale for middle school students

The present research aims to build a personal space scale for middle school students, as the personal space is the area that directly surrounds the individual and through which most of his interactions with others take place. Due to the lack of a scale for middle school students that fits with the circumstances and the reality of the region, the researcher built a scale to measure the personal space. The researcher used a stratified random sample of (400) male and female students from the fourth, fifth and sixth grades of middle schools in the center of Al-Hamdania District. The researcher prepared (31 items) sorted into (4) areas: the first field: the amount of visual contact, the second field: physical approximation, the third field: familiarity with the topic of the conversation, and the fourth field: the amount of smile), based on the literature and previous studies. Face validity of the scale items was extracted, and thus the scale was presented to a group of experts whose number reached (20) experts in the field of educational and psychological sciences. All the items obtained an agreement rate of more than (80%), and the researcher calculated the differentiation of the items, as the scale was applied to (400) male and female students. A percentage of (27%) of the higher scores and (27%) of the lower scores were taken. The differentiation coefficient was calculated using the t-test, and (4 items) were omitted as they were undistinguished. Also, the internal consistency of the scale was extracted by finding the item with the total score and the item with scale scopes. The stability of the scale was extracted by test methods (retesting, and the stability value was (0.80) using Pearson's coefficient, and (0.82) using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and they are both high stability coefficients. It's worth noting that the answer alternatives were (applies to me to a very large extent - applies to me to a large extent - applies to me to a moderate extent - applies to me to a small extent - applies to me to a very small extent). The grades range (5-1) for the positive items, and (1-5) for the negative items from and the highest score on the scale was (135) and the lowest score was (27), and with a hypothetical mean of (81), thus the scale is now ready for application.The research came out with a number of recommendations and suggestions, including that the educational counselor should use the scale to know the extent of the students' personal space and its impact on their behavior and adaptation, and the need for teachers to know the level of the personal space because of its impact on the psychological and emotional state of the student.The researcher suggested using the scale to measure the personal space in educational research, and the use of the scale in research and correlational studies such as the personal space and its relationship to cognitive schemas.