Attitude Scale

Abstract

The Attitude Scale (Kaswan, Wasman, & Freedman, 1960) is a psychometric instrument comprising 205 items, specifically designed to assess an individual’s attitudes toward significant persons and objects. This instrument employs a Thurstone-type scale methodology, requiring respondents to answer “Yes” or “No” to each statement. The scale was originally developed as a component of a larger research effort focused on validating the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration measure. The items are arranged randomly but are analyzed across 45 distinct five-item continua, which span the range from expressions of maximum approval (e.g., “I loved my father best of all”) to those of maximum disapproval (e.g., “It should be different, but I can’t help hating my father”). Initial assessments of reliability demonstrated high inter-rater consistency in item classification.

Keywords

Attitude Scale, Test Development, Verbal Aggression, Extrapunitiveness, Attitude Measures, Test Construction, Relational Aggression, Thurstone Scale, Psychological Testing.

Authors

J. Kaswan, M. Wasman, Lawrence Z. Freedman

Purpose

The primary objective of the Attitude Scale is the structured assessment of attitudes held by an individual toward significant persons and objects within their immediate environment. The scale provides a quantifiable method for gauging the degree of approval, disapproval, or ambivalence associated with these targets.

The instrument was developed not as a standalone measure but specifically within the context of a validation study concerning the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration measure, aiming to provide correlational data related to frustration responses and aggressive tendencies.

Construct

The core psychological construct measured by the instrument is Attitudes.

Attitudes are operationalized through the respondent’s pattern of agreement or disagreement with the scale’s statements. The scoring system classifies resulting attitudes into three main categories: positive (agreement with items closest to maximum approval), negative (agreement with items closest to maximum disapproval), or ambivalent (mixed agreements or neutral response patterns).

Validity

No specific validity information, such as criterion, concurrent, or construct validity data, was provided in the initial source documentation regarding the Attitude Scale itself. The scale’s development was intrinsically linked to the validation process of a separate projective measure.

Reliability

Reliability for the Attitude Scale was assessed using a measure of inter-rater consistency concerning the scaling of items. The methodology involved having a naïve rater independently sort the 205 items into groups corresponding to the established continua of approval and disapproval.

This procedure yielded a high degree of consistency, with only a 3.6% discrepancy observed between the naïve rater’s classifications and the original scaling established by the authors. This reliability assessment was conducted using data gathered from a sample of male state prison inmates.

Factor Analysis

The original research documentation does not indicate that any factor analysis or exploration of underlying latent dimensions was performed on the 205 items of the Attitude Scale. The scale relies on the predefined structure inherent in Thurstone scaling, which organizes items along established continua rather than relying on empirical factor extraction.

Instrument

Test Type: Revision

Format: The measure consists of 205 items requiring a simple Yes/No response format. Items are analyzed across 45 five-item continua to determine positive, negative, or ambivalent attitude classifications.

Language Available: English (Implied)

Population Group: Human; Male

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older)

Population Details: The initial sample utilized for reliability assessment consisted of Male state prison inmates from the United States.

Test Methodology: Test Reliability (Item Sorting Consistency)

Keywords

Thurstone Scale, Attitude Assessment, Prison Population, Aggression Research, Psychological Testing, Rating Scale, Affective Measures.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source content.

Correspondence Address: J. Kaswan: University of California; M. Wasman & L. Z. Freedman: Yale University

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1960

Permissions and Fee: Information regarding permissions, licensing, or associated fees is not provided in the original source material.

Reference’s

Kaswan, J., Wasman, M., & Freedman, L. Z. (1960). Aggression and the Picture-Frustration Study. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24(5), 446–452. The digital object identifier (DOI) is https://doi.org/10.1037/h0046233.

Items of the Attitude Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The Attitude Scale consists of 205 statements arranged randomly, categorized into 45 continua reflecting attitudes toward significant objects and individuals. Respondents indicate “Yes” or “No” to each statement. Examples illustrating the range of the continua include:

• Maximum Approval Example: “I loved my father best of all”
• Maximum Disapproval Example: “It should be different, but I can’t help hating my father”