Attitude feels subjective, but psychologists have developed real, testable tools to measure it with reasonable consistency.
✊ Must Know
1. The Likert Scale, Semantic Differential, and Implicit vs. Explicit
- Standardized Instruments Psychologists use standardized psychological instruments to measure attitude, allowing comparison across individuals and over time.
- Likert Scale The Likert scale, a common attitude-measurement tool, asks respondents to rate agreement with statements on a numbered scale.
- Semantic Differential The semantic differential scale measures attitude by asking respondents to rate a concept between pairs of opposite adjectives, like good-bad or strong-weak.
- Instead Explicit attitude measures rely on direct self-report, while implicit measures, including the Implicit Association Test, infer attitude from reaction time and automatic associations people may not consciously report.
📘 Good to Know
2. Social Desirability Bias, the Explicit-Implicit Gap, and Survey Design
- Instead Self-report measures can be affected by social desirability bias, where respondents answer in ways they believe are more socially acceptable.
- Instead Implicit measures sometimes reveal attitudes that differ from what a person consciously reports, highlighting a gap between explicit and implicit attitude.
- Survey Design Survey design choices, including question wording and scale format, can meaningfully affect the attitudes researchers measure.
💎 Great to Know
3. Which Measure Predicts Behaviour, and a Caution Against Overconfidence
- Question The gap between explicit and implicit attitude measures raises important questions about which better predicts actual future behaviour.
- Why Reliable attitude measurement matters directly for public administration, informing everything from policy design to public communication strategy.
- Takeaway Understanding measurement limitations helps prevent overconfidence in survey results that may not fully capture genuine underlying attitudes.
Test Yourself
📝 Test Yourself
Question 1 of 1
Was this helpful?
Leave a Reply