Reidar Ommundsen

An application of the Three-Step Test-Interview (TSTI): A validation study of the Dutch and Norwegian versions of the Illegal Aliens Scale

In this paper the results of a validation study of the Dutch and Norwegian versions of the Illegal Aliens (IA) Scale are discussed. The main objective is to evaluate the usefulness of the Three‐Step Test‐Interview (TSTI) as a pre‐testing method in a validation study. The TSTI is a new technique specifically developed to detect problems with self‐completion questionnaires. The study’s aims were twofold: (1) to evaluate the usefulness of the TSTI for detecting problems regarding attitude measurement; and (2) to identify potential problems with the IA Scale. The IA Scale is a Likert‐type attitude scale consisting of 20 parallel interval items. Its main purpose is for large comparative sample studies of political and ideological attitudes, for example between subgroups within populations or between countries. The TSTI procedure appeared to be very productive in terms of the number and kind of problems that were found regarding the Dutch and Norwegian versions of the IA Scale. It is concluded that the TSTI is useful as a diagnostic tool in validation studies of instruments that are aimed at measuring attitudes.

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.

Attitudes toward Illegal Immigration in Scandinavia and United States

531 undergraduate students (M age = 23.4 yr.) from the universities of Copenhagen, Oslo, and Oregon State participated in a survey on attitudes toward illegal immigrants, radicalism–conservatism, Machiavellianism, and anomie. Also, a scale on relative optimism–pessimism, past, present, and future, was included. The range of coefficients alpha for the Attitudes Toward Illegal Immigration Scale was .92 to .93. Pearson product-moment correlations for the over-all sample were significant for these scores and on radicalism–conservatism, Machiavellianism, and anomie. Correlational and regression analysis identify radicalism–conservatism as a primary predictor. National sample differences are discussed.

The Structure of Ideology in Norway and the United States

Abstract University students from Norway (n = 273) and the United States (n = 286) completed questionnaires containing a heterogeneous set of 60 items from scales of political and social attitudes related to the left/right and tough/tender ideological dimensions. The responses of students in each country were factor analyzed, and the resulting attitude structures were compared. Similar factors were found for student attitudes in the two countries, but the order of importance of components varied; for example, the first factor found for Norwegians was a clear conservative/liberal factor. A similar factor was found for the American students, but it ranked fourth in importance. Overall, the Norwegian attitudes fit Eysencks two-factor description of social attitude structure. American attitudes, on the other hand, seemed to fit the more diffuse left/right dimension described by Tomkins as humanism versus normativism. A single left/right dimension seems to hold the most promise for describing political attitu...

Structure of attitudes toward illegal immigration: development of cross-national cumulative scales.

This research examined the possibility of developing Mokken cumulative scales measuring attitudes toward illegal immigrants in a 9-nation sample. A total of 1,407 respondents primarily from national and regional universities participated in the surveys including the 20-item Illegal Immigration Scale. The scales displayed acceptable reliability with coefficients alpha ranging from .79 to .93. A Procrustes analysis yielded coefficients of congruence with the previously established three-factor solution. The amount of variance accounted for varied between 33.1 and 54.7%, supporting the presence of other factors in attitudes toward illegal immigrants. Mokken scale analysis yielded robust and economical scales in two clusters of national samples.

Cross-National Measure of Fear-Based Xenophobia: Development of a Cumulative Scale

To apply a Mokken Scale Procedure in developing a hierarchical cross-national scale to measure xenophobia, a pool of 30 xenophobia-related items was collected from several sources and modified using established unidimensional criteria. The survey was administered to 608 undergraduate students in the USA, 193 undergraduate students in The Netherlands, and 303 undergraduate students in Norway. 14 items measuring perceived threat or fear and meeting the criteria of the Stereotype Content Model were selected for further analysis. A separate item analysis and, subsequently, Mokken Scale Procedure yielded a cumulative scale with the same five items for each of the three samples. The items and the total scale met criteria for homogeneity in all samples with H >….40.

Developing attitude statements toward illegal immigration: transcultural reliability and utility.

This is a report on the utility of a scale measuring attitudes toward illegal immigrants in two samples from nations that have more people moving out of the country than moving into the country. The Attitude toward Illegal Immigrants Scale was administered to 219 undergraduates from Sofia University in Bulgaria, and 179 undergraduates from Hanoi State University in Vietnam. Results yielded a scale with no sex differences, and acceptable alpha coefficients. Item analysis identified the most contributory and least contributory items, with considerable overlap in the two samples. A principal component analysis with varimax rotation was carried out to examine the structure.

Attitudes Toward Nuclear Disarmament: International Comparisons of University Students and Activists

Neither depth psychology nor crisis process psychology (e.g. Blight 1987; Rusk 1983) evaluate the relevance of public attitudes. Both positions assume that armaments decisions are made in a social vacuum. Yet, public opinion reflects not only ideological mobilization, but effectively delimits the disarmament process. As Deutsch (1983) has noted about US-SU relations, ’the conditions for social order or mutual trust do not exist’ (p. 5). In other words the problem is ideology and resulting attitudes. Larsen (1986) points to the role of ritualized ideology used by national decision makers to maintain the moral mobilization of their societies. Beliefs, attitudes and values often serve ’to bolster the arms race through ingrained dogmatic and ritualistic thinking’ (p. 396). One of the functions of ritualized ideology is to move the nuclear disarmament issue from the level of rational discussion to that of moral absolutism. Cold war rhetoric often reflects inane polarization which precludes a rational settlement. Thus, attitudes toward nuclear disarmament are partly an outcome of the ritualized ideology produced by the cold war, and also a reinforcer of the armaments race. It is a matter of some importance, therefore, to study the socio-

Exploring the relationships between fear-related xenophobia, perceptions of out-group entitativity, and social contact in Norway

An internet-related survey distributed to Norwegian students explored predictors of fear-related xenophobia toward immigrants. Specifically, this study examined a new social construct called “entitativity” (i.e., the extent to which out-group members are perceived as bonded together in a cohesive or organized unit), as well as frequency of informal social contact and valence of a recent encounter in relation to certain xenophobic attitudes. Correlational and multiple regression analyses indicated that perceived out-group entitativity was a moderate predictor of fear-related xenophobia. Voluntary informal contact was a weak predictor of fear-related xenophobia, whereas negative evaluation of an encounter in the recent past was a strong predictor. Further analysis indicated that the effect of entitativity on xenophobia was strongest when informal social contact was low. Moreover, analysis indicated that the effect of valenced contact was partly mediated through perception of entitativity.

Ideology and Identity: A National Outlook

Hopes for an international order and global peace seem shattered as we face the 21st century. The nation-state supported by the national outlook is not withering away. On the contrary, in the identity vacuum which followed the system collapse of Stalinism, new virulent forms of mini nationalisms and ethnic chauvinisms are observed. Clearly, peace research must devote more attention to the understanding of the ideological and identity components of the national outlook. The current studies contribute a step toward outlining the components of the national outlook. Phase 1 focused on components and structure of the US national outlook. 1867 US, international students, and domestic group respondents participated in the 60-item check-off survey. Few differences were found between groups, supporting the presence of a common national outlook with shared content and structure. In phase 2, 755 social science students from the USA, Bulgaria, Hungary and Norway responded to each of the 60 items on a five-point response category varying from completely meaningful (5) to completely meaningless (1). Differences in ratings by the samples were determined, and varimax rotated factor analyses were completed. The greatest overall differences were found, as predicted, between US and Bulgarian respondents, and the greatest similarities between US and Norwegian participants. Finally, the relationship of the national outlook to peace is discussed.