Attitude measurement

Abstract

Attitudes refer to evaluative beliefs about, or stances toward, social objects. Being at the intersection of sociology and psychology, attitudes have been measured using a variety of methods, at times overlapping and occasionally contrasting in nature. Earlier writings on the attitude construct sought to position it in its rightful place among other social psychological concepts. Nowadays, attitudes are studied using explicit measures, implicit measures and psychophysiological measures. Major topics of discussion, particularly in the domain of explicit measurement, concern the design of attitude statements within survey research in a way that maximizes research outcomes. Ongoing debates also concern the influence of context on different attitude measures, and the improvement of implicit and physiological measures of attitude. Future research is aimed toward better understanding and designing attitude measures that are more applicable to non-Western contexts. The improvement of attitude measures for studying intergroup conflict is another salient concern.