Generalized Attitude Measure

Abstract

The Generalized Attitude Measure (GAM) is a concise psychometric instrument designed primarily by James C. McCroskey to assess an individual’s overall affective response toward a specific object, concept, or person. Utilizing a 7-point Semantic Differential Scale format, the GAM employs six bipolar adjective pairs to capture the valence and intensity of the respondent’s attitude. It is highly valued in communication and social science research for its adaptability, efficiency, and strong psychometric properties, particularly in studies concerning source credibility, persuasion, and message effects.

Keywords

Attitude measurement, Semantic Differential Scale, McCroskey, communication research, persuasion, affective response, psychometrics, generalized attitude.

Authors

James C. McCroskey, Virginia P. Richmond

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Generalized Attitude Measure is to provide a standardized, efficient method for quantifying the affective component of an individual’s attitude toward a specific stimulus. This scale differs from instruments that measure cognitive beliefs or behavioral intentions by focusing purely on the general evaluative judgment or feeling associated with the target object.

The instrument is designed to be highly versatile, allowing researchers to measure attitudes across a vast range of subjects, including abstract concepts, political figures, organizational policies, or specific communication messages. Its standardized structure, relying on core evaluative adjectives, ensures it functions as a robust and easily administered tool in experimental and survey research settings.

Construct

The construct measured is the generalized attitude, defined in social psychology as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object. The GAM operationalizes this construct using the established methodology of the Semantic Differential Scale, ensuring that the measurement targets the evaluative dimension of meaning.

The six bipolar adjective pairs (e.g., Good/Bad, Negative/Positive) are selected precisely because they load heavily onto the evaluative factor, which forms the core of attitude measurement. By summing the responses across these items, researchers obtain a single, reliable score representing the respondent’s overall affective disposition toward the target concept.

Validity

The validity of the Generalized Attitude Measure has been consistently supported across decades of research, including dedicated psychometric validation studies conducted by McCroskey. Evidence for construct validity is demonstrated through its consistent and theoretically appropriate correlation with other established measures of attitude, source credibility, and related communication constructs.

Furthermore, the scale possesses high face validity due to the transparent evaluative nature of its items. The GAM has been shown to effectively differentiate attitudes in experimental settings, confirming its utility in measuring the intended construct, particularly within the context of persuasive communication research.

Reliability

The Generalized Attitude Measure consistently demonstrates high internal consistency, which is a key indicator of reliability. McCroskey’s 2006 study, which specifically examined the psychometric properties of the scale, reported high Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, often exceeding .90, across diverse samples and various target objects.

This strong reliability suggests that the six scale items are highly cohesive and measure the same underlying evaluative dimension with minimal measurement error. Such consistent performance confirms the GAM’s status as a dependable instrument for quantifying affective responses in academic and applied research.

Factor Analysis

Principal components and confirmatory factor analyses performed on the GAM typically confirm its intended unidimensional structure. The six bipolar items consistently load onto a single, dominant factor, which is identified as the generalized evaluative attitude.

This empirical finding is crucial as it justifies the common practice of summing the individual item scores to produce a single, composite score representing the overall attitude. The factor structure aligns perfectly with the theoretical model of the semantic differential technique, where the evaluative dimension is expected to be the most robust factor.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychometric Scale; Self-Report Questionnaire

Format: 7-point Semantic Differential Scale (Bipolar Adjective Pairs)

Language Available: Primarily English; easily translatable due to the core nature of the evaluative adjectives.

Population Group: General population; frequently utilized with student, adult, and organizational samples in communication science.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults (typically 15 years and older)

Population Details: Applicable across various cultural and educational backgrounds, provided standard language competency ensures comprehension of the bipolar terms.

Test Methodology: Respondents are instructed to rate a specified concept or object against the six bipolar scales on a 7-point continuum. Scoring requires appropriate reversal of certain items (1, 3, and 4 in the standard format) before summing the scores to achieve a total generalized attitude score.

Keywords

Psychological measurement, communication studies, affective disposition, general evaluation, scale validation, James C. McCroskey, semantic differential.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Correspondence Address: Correspondence is typically directed through the Department of Communication Studies at West Virginia University, where the primary developer was affiliated.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Test Year for the foundational research and initial conceptualization of the scale is 1966, stemming from McCroskey’s doctoral dissertation. Formal validation and widespread use continued through subsequent decades, culminating in published reliability and validity reports in 2006.

The instrument is generally available for non-commercial academic research use, provided appropriate scholarly citations are made. Detailed information and access to the instrument can be found on Dr. McCroskey’s academic website. The instrument can be found at: http://www.jamescmccroskey.com/measures/attitude_generalized.htm

Reference’s

• McCroskey, J. C. (1966). Experimental studies of the effects of ethos and evidence in persuasive communication. Unpublished doctoral dissertation .Pennsylvania State University.
• McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1989). Bipolar scales. In P. Emmert & L. L. Barker (Eds.), Measurement of Communication Behavior (pp. 154-167). New York: Longman.
• McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1996). Fundamentals of human communication: An interpersonal perspective. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
• McCroskey, J. C. (2006). Reliability and Validity of the Generalized Attitude Measure and Generalized Belief Measure. Communication Quarterly 54(3):265-274.

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Items of the Generalized Attitude Measure

The following items constitute the 7-point semantic differential scale used in the Generalized Attitude Measure:

• 1) Good 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bad
• 2) Wrong 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Right
• 3) Harmful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Beneficial
• 4) Fair 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Unfair
• 5) Wise 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Foolish
• 6) Negative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Positive

The scoring instructions for the scale are:

“1” and “7” indicate a very strong feeling. Numbers “2” and “6” indicate a strong feeling. Numbers “3” and “5” indicate a fairly week feeling. Number “4” indicates you are undecided or do not understand

The items requiring reverse coding for calculation are:

Reverse code: 1‚ 3‚ & 4