This post is for my COMM 333: Persuasion class. There are many topics discussed in this course and one of them happens to be attitude. Attitude is a term that is vital because it “can guide our behavior” (Gass & Seiter, 2014, p. 44). So how can a person measure the attitude of someone else? There are specific ways that “social scientists have developed explicit and implicit methods of measuring attitudes” (Gass & Seiter, 2014, p. 45). One approach is through the use of self-report scales. With Likert scales, attitudes are measured using this scale through a “series of statements about some attitude object” (Gass & Seiter, 2014, p. 45). The statements are followed up with a range of choices that helps identify how intense the attitude is. An example of this scale would be a questionnaire with the options of strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree. Furthermore, with visually oriented scales “expressions represent the degrees of favorability or unfavorability” (Petrovic-Mundzic, 2022, p.3). An example of this would be having a pain measurement scale with various faces to choose from. These faces can range from hurting a smudge to hurting very horribly.
The main benefit of the Likert scale is that it is simple. It can be described as “easy to construct, easy to give, easily to tweak to the type of field and to the type of questions” (Petrovic-Mundzic, 2022, p.2). This simplicity can explain why this scale is popular and used by so many. Since the process is not complicated, more people will be willing to participate in answering the questions (Petrovic-Mundzic, 2022). More responses mean more data on attitudes that can be collected and evaluated. One way it could be beneficial is when a business is trying to gain information about a product/ service. The scale will provide them the opportunity to reach a wide range of customers and find out their feelings. Moreover, the benefit of a visually oriented scale is that it allows a person an easier way to articulate how they feel. They might not have the wording to describe their attitude, but the images might reflect how they feel thus, providing them another way to express themselves (Petrovic-Mundzic, 2022). This would be beneficial when dealing with children because they can understand images much easier than they do words, allowing them to respond accurately to what is being asked. Also, words can be confusing for those who have a learning disorder or language barrier. Someone who has dyslexia or a person who speaks another language might appreciate the benefit of using this scale.
Example of a Likert Scale
(Amaresan, 2019)
There are some downfalls when using these two scales. The main critique with Likert scales is that there are only five components that consist of the scale so instead of being a scale with depth, it is more refrained (Petrovic-Mundzic, 2022). Being more refrained means that measuring the authentic attitude of those surveyed can be difficult. One negative drawback of a visually oriented scale is that feelings are subjective based on the individual. If you ask someone to point to the picture that expresses the pain they are feeling, answers will vary because what might hurt a lot for one person could hurt just a little for another (Petrovic-Mundzic, 2022).
Example of a Visually Oriented Scale
(Langtree, 2016)
The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELA) and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) are two theories that analyze the measurement of attitude. There are benefits to utilizing the two theories, but there are still problems that can arise. For instance, what happens when social desirability bias comes into play? People can be blinded by how they think a surveyor might want them to answer a question instead of answering it how they truly feel. It also does not help that the person giving the survey could be in the vicinity of those who are completing it (Petrovic-Mundzic, 2022). The best way to avoid being influenced is to centrally process information before providing a response. People who engage in this are better equipped to regulate their attitudes and not be worried about how their answers may be perceived (Petrovic-Mundzic, 2022).
This assignment has helped me gain knowledge on some of the self-report scales used to measure attitudes. Now, I know the benefits and drawbacks of the scales and which one works best in certain scenarios. Also, I have never taken the time to realize just how flawed they can be. Being easily influenced while completing a survey never crossed my mind, but I now realized that bias could have influenced me in the past. For the future, I know to be mindful and rely on central processing to make sure my attitude is not swayed.
References
Amaresan, S. (2019). What is a Likert scale? [Examples & Templates] Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/service/likert-scale
Gass, R.H. & Seiter, J.S. (2014). Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Langtree, I.(2016). Pain scale chart: 1 to 10 levels. Retrieved from https://www.disabled-world.com/health/pain/scale.php
Petrovic-Mundzic, I. (2022). Lecture: Attitudes. Retrieved from https://canvas.odu.edu/courses/115372/pages/lecture-attitudes?module_item_id=3438565
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