Attitude Measurement
Attitude Measurement: Types of
Measurement/To understand attitudes, it is necessary to know how attitudes are
measured. Attitudes cannot be observed directly, but rather, they are inferred
through behavior and self-report. As a result, social psychologists use a
variety of methods to measure attitudes. By analyze methods social
psychologists use to conduct attitude research and taking an in-depth look at
the distinction between explicit and implicit attitudes and their respective
measures. In their seminal article on subjective reporting of mental processes,
Nisbett and Wilson (1977) argue that when asked to self-report on mental
processes, people report more information than would be possible for them to
actually know. This argument has implications for research that relies on
introspective awareness for the self-reporting of attitudes and behaviors. As applied
to attitude measurement, this argument leads to the question: Which factors
influence whether or not you can provide an accurate self-report of your
attitudes and behaviors?
What are two possible implications
of the Nisbett and Wilson (1977) article on self-reporting of attitudes.
Explain how the perspectives in
the article might influence how social psychologists conduct attitude research.
Provide your position on whether or
not individuals are capable of accurately reporting their own attitudes and
justify your position with references.
Some resources and other scholarly
literature you can use:
Blanton, H., Jaccard, J.,
Christie, C., & Gonazales, P. M. (2007). Plausible assumptions,
questionable assumptions and post hoc rationalizations: Will the real IAT,
please stand up? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(3), 399-409.
Cunningham, W. A., Preacher, K.
J., & Mahzarin, R. B. (2001). Implicit attitude measures: Consistency,
stability, and convergent validity. Psychological Science, 12(2), 163-170.
Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E.,
& Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit
cognition: The implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 74(6),1464-1480.
Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T.
D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes.
Psychological Review, 84(3), 231-259.
Retrieved from the Walden Library
databases.
Nosek, B. A. (2007). Implicit-explicit
relations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(2), 65-69.
Crites, S. L., Jr., Fabrigar, L.
R., & Petty, R. E. (1994). Measuring the affective and cognitive properties
of attitudes: Conceptual and methodological issues. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 20(6), page 619-634.
Fazio, R. H. (2001). On the
automatic activation of associated evaluations: An overview. Cognition and
Emotion, 15(2), 115-141.
