Knud S. Larsen

Attitudes of heterosexuals toward homosexuality: A Likert‐type scale and construct validity

Abstract This article reports on three phases of the development of a Likert‐type scale measuring heterosexual attitudes toward homosexuality. Phase 1 describes the development of the scale. Item analysis yielded 20 statements with item‐total correlations ranging from .57 to .74. In Phase 2 the 20‐item Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Homosexuality (HATH) Scale was administered to 82 subjects. Analysis yielded a corrected split‐half correlation of .92, and the scale was found to discriminate between individuals based on sex, academic major, and church attendance. In Phase 3 (a validation study) the HATH was administered with several additional attitude scales and indexes of an exploratory nature. Analysis yielded a corrected split‐half correlation of .92. As in Phase 2, a significant effect of sex was found; females appear more tolerant than males. In addition, the HATH correlated significantly with peer attitudes, religiosity, and authoritarianism. The scale has satisfactory reliability and shows promising ...

Attitudes toward sex-roles: Traditional or egalitarian?

This article reports on the development of a Likert-type scale measuring attitudes toward egalitarian-traditional sex roles. A total of 484 undergraduates participated in six phases of the study. An item analysis study yielded 20 items with part-whole correlations <.48. The corrected split-half reliability coefficient is .91 (p≤.001). Five other phases of research show promising concurrent and construct validity. In particular, traditional attitudes are related to rigidity as measured by authoritarian, religious, same-sex touching, rape acceptance, divorce, and conservative attitudes. Overall, a varimax rotated factor analysis revealed one major factor accounting for 84.6% of the variance. Further, females were shown to have higher levels of egalitarian attitudes as compared to males.

Anti‐black attitudes, religious orthodoxy, permissiveness, and sexual information: A study of the attitudes of heterosexuals toward homosexuality

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate three sets of predictors of attitudes toward homosexuality: (a) anti‐black and orthodox religious attitudes, (b) sexual permissiveness, and (c) the effect of an introductory human sexuality course. Significantly more positive attitudes were expected for those holding more positive attitudes toward blacks and those who were more sexually permissive. A negative relationship was expected for those holding orthodox religious attitudes. Furthermore, information from a college course in human sexuality was expected to produce positive attitude change toward homosexuality. A survey instrument consisting of several scales and indexes measuring the aforementioned variables, as well as several indexes of sexual behavior, was administered to 194 students in a human sexuality course and 120 students in an introductory psychology course. Results showed significant regression coefficients for anti‐black attitudes and religious orthodoxy, confirming the predictions. Sex...

Approval Seeking, Social Cost, and Aggression: A Scale and Some Dynamics

Summary The two studies reported in this article concern the development of a scale measuring attitudes toward approval seeking and examine the relationship between approval seeking, social cost, and aggression. Validity problems of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale indicate the need to employ new methodological approaches. By means of responses by 408 male and female university students, 21 statements were selected for the final scale. The scale shows a satisfactory split-half correlation coefficient and significant relationships to self-esteem, competition, and aggression. The experimental study (N # 43 male and female undergraduates) yielded a significant interaction effect between approval seeking and social cost on aggression. High approval seekers showed low level of aggression toward high social cost frustrators and high levels toward low social cost frustrators. On the other hand, low approval seekers displayed approximately equal amounts of aggression in the two conditions. These resul...

Measurement of Competitive-Cooperative Attitudes

Competitive attitudes significantly influence various dimensions of human behavior. Studies have largely used games in the collection of data and the usefulness of games as methodological tools may be questioned. To overcome this methodological weakness, a Likert-type attitude-scale measuring attitudes toward competition-cooperation was developed. The scale shows satisfactory internal reliability and correlates significantly with measures of Machiavellianism and need for social approval.

Environmental waste : recycling attitudes and correlates

Abstract A Likert-type scale was developed and used to measure attitudes toward recycling among 452 male and female undergraduates. The instrument had high part-whole correlations and satisfactory reliability. There was a predictable relationship between attitudes toward recycling and attitudes toward environmental issues, rights issues, and political participation.

A study of same sex touching attitudes: Scale development and personality predictors

Abstract Attitudes toward same sex touching is an area of considerable importance to understanding sex‐role rigidity and heterosexual intimacy, and are thought to be significant to sexual adjustment and well‐being. A reliable and valid scale is needed for research on same sex touching. In this article, seven phases in the development of a Likert‐type scale measuring attitudes toward same sex touching (SSTS) are described. Phase 1 of the study was an item analysis producing part‐whole correlations ranging from .72 to .82, alpha = .98, and reproducibility = .93. Further, in Phase 2, the SSTS was shown to have moderate relationships to authoritarianism (r = ‐.38, p ≤ .01), rigidity (r = ‐.48, p ≤ .01), and socially desirable conceptions of femininity for both males (r = .46, p ≤ .01), and females (r = .31, p ≤ .01). In Phase 3 the construct validity correlations of Phase 2 were generally replicated. In Phases 4 and 5 significant correlations were found between the SSTS and Machiavellianism (r = ‐.25, p ≤ .05...

On use of Student Samples for Scale Construction

This research note responds to the question of whether a convenience sample of undergraduate students may be successfully utilized in concept development and in scale construction, and in what way the results are comparable to the findings of a representative national sample. The results of a Mokken analysis in both samples support the hypothesis that convenience samples have utility in concept development and in developing measures that can also be used in representative samples.

Collaborator Status, Subject Characteristics, and Conformity in the Asch Paradigm

Summary In an investigation of the level of laboratory conformity, it was hypothesized that (a) externals would conform at higher levels than internals and (b) Ss would conform more to high status collaborators than to peers. A total of 40 undergraduates, 20 male and 20 female, participated. The procedures were those of a modified Asch conformity study. The Ss completed Rotters Locus of Control scale independently of the experimental procedure. Subsequently, collaborator status was manipulated to create high and low status conditions. The experimental results support hypotheses relating locus of control and status of the collaborators to conformity. A significant interaction effect between sex and status of collaborators suggests that status was a more salient variable for males.

Conformity in the Asch Experiment

(1974). Conformity in the Asch Experiment. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 94, No. 2, pp. 303-304.