WE DIMENSIONSUNDERLYING PERCFlVED SEXUAL ATfITUDr-s.
by
<0R. WayneTucker
A thesissubmittedto theSchool ofGradual.eStudiesinpartial fulftJlmentoftherequirementsfor thedegreeof Masters of ScienceinAppliedSocial Psychology (Co-operative).
Departmentof Psychology MemorialUniversityofNewfoundland
May,1995
St.John's Newfoundland
HI
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(ii) Abstract
Theperceptualprocess of implicitattitude theories was investigatedby wayof a dimensional perspective.Button,Grant, Hannah,&.Ross (1993) suggest that perceivedattitudes are two-dimensional,the two largely orthogonaldimensions being Liberal-ConservativeandTraditional-Radical.The present study examined perceptions of others'sexual attitudes, Phase 1 tnvesugarecthe dimensionsof perceived sexual attitudes; Phase2focused on the identification of the most appropriate labels for the dlmeasionalsolution observedin the firstPhase.In PhaseI, 2S females and 25 males ineachof two data setsjudged the similarity ofpairsof attitudestatementsby indicatingwhetherthey tho ughtaperson who agreed withone statement,would also agreewith theother.Amultidimensionalstructural analysis indicatedaclear "elbow"
in the stressvalues and suggested that (orboth data sets a two-dimensionalsolution provided the bestfit. In Phase 2,30 males and 30 femalesfor each of data sets A andBrated(on four differentscales)hypotheticalindividualswho agreed witha series of attitude statements(same statementsas in Phase1).Multiple. regressionanalyses identified Liberal-Conservativeas the most suitable label for Dimension I.For Dimension2, both Traditional-Radical and Warm-Coldprovedto be acceptable labels as reflectedby the amountof variability accounted for,but the Traditional-Radical label wasrecommendedas the"best"based on past validationsof this label, The resultswere interpretedas consistentwitha two-dimensionalstructureunderlying
( i i i) implicit altitude theories. The results were also discussed in relationto other models, as well as in terms of their applicationtothe issue of sexual intimacy.
(i v ) Acknowledgments
Atthis point, Imustfirst give Janet Pigot the •Architect- aspecialthanksin listening to my endless thesis'comptalnts.Itis indeeda supportive relationship,that has its history in both of us supportingone another duringthe final stages of each other's thesis. I listento Janet defend her thesis at TechnicalUniversity of Nova Scotia (TIJNS),and before the official ceremonyofher graduatien ringwewere on ourway to Newfoundland so that I could get started with my thesis.
To Ted Hannah whohad me write what appeared tobesomany drallsthat I felt guiltyaboutaUthe paperIused.!appreciateallthe academicsupportthathelped me through the start and finishof my masters' program. Tedhashad a lasting impact onmy life and has enhanced my academic potentialby way of an hOilOUrs'thesis and masters'thesis.Thanks Ted.As well, I mustthank my committee members Cathy Button and Malcolm Grantfor their constructivecomments.
Finally, J wouldlike to acknowledgethe positive commentsthatJreceived from Michael Bell,a second year graduate student in developmentalpsychology.
Mike is indeed a 'Super Graduate Student,'who took timeoutofhis bUSy and hectic scheduleto provide a freshand insightfulperspectiveonmy thesis.
TABLE OF CONTENl"S
Absuact
Acknowledgments
UstofTables
list., fFig ures
1.0Introd uction
1.1The FunctionofImplicit PersonalityTheories 1.2TheResearchHistoryofImplicit PersonalityTheories 1.3 Howdo PeoplePerceiveOlePersonalityTraitsofOthers?
1.4Establishing a linkbetweenImplicitPerso nality Theories and SexualBehaviour.
1.5Implicit Attitude Theories 1.6 DimensiolNllityofPerceivedAttitudes
2.0PhaseI
2.1Method 2.1.1 SexualIssues 2.1.2AttitudeStatem ents 2.1.3Subjects 2.1.4Procedure 2.2Multidimens ionalScaling Analysis
iv
vii
viii
10
10 10 11 13 13 16 (v)
(vi)
2.3Results&Discussion 17
3.0~U U
3.1 Method 26
3.1.1Subjects 26
3.1.2Procedure 27
3.2Results&Discussion 27
4.0 General Discussion 31
4.1Relationshiptoother Models 32
4.2AppliedImplicationsof ImplicitAttitudeTheories 34 4.3AlternativeApproachesto Labelling Dimensions 35 4.4Directionsfor Future Research of Implicit AttitudeTheories 37
5.0Conclusion 38
References 39
Appendix A Instructionsfor writing goodattitudestate ments. 44
Appendix B Attitudestatementscategorizedbyissue. 45
Appendix C Prime statementsfor data set {A) . 57
AppendixD Prime statements for dataset[B]. 58
(vii) LIST OF TABLES
Table
Attitude statementsreprese ntedinFigure 2 for data set(A]. 22
2. Attitudestatementsrepresen tedinFigure3 fordata set (B]. 23
3. Multipleand R'values for each of thefour scales used in Phase 2 to suggesllabels for communicating the MDS
configuration for data sets (AJ and (B]. 29
4. Correlarronsa-nong the fourscales for data sets
[Aland [p.]. 30
(v ii i ) UST OF FIGURES
Figure
L Degree of stressbydimensionalityfordatasets[AJ and [8]. 19
2. A two dimensionalplotofselectedattitudinal itemsas a function of
similarityfordata set (AJ. 20
3. A two dimensionalplot ofselectedattitudinal itemsas afunction of
similarityfor data set(B]. 21
The DimensionsUnderlyingPerceivedSexual Attitudes.
TheFunctionofImplicit PersonantyTheories Implicit personalitytheoriesaidusin structuringoursocialworld(pervin, 1984).Implicit personalitytheories are not formal theories withaUthe expectationsof suchtheories definedinpreciseterms (Embree, 1986; Pervin,1984),butarepartof a perceptual processthaiwasoriginallyproposedby Brunerand Tagiuri (1954).As partof thisperceptual process eachIndivid>Ja1hashis/her own implicit theoryof how personalitytrails co-exist.Benefitsof implicit personalitytheories includereduction of cognitiveeffort in interpretationof humanexperiences(Kalliopuska,1985),andthe abilitytoprocess substantialinformation(pervin,1984). "The task of implicit personality theories is to increasethe individual'ssocial adaptabilityandto directthe formationof impressionsand appraisals"(Kalliopuska,1985,p. 1072).Such benefits arereduced when the target ofan implicitpersonality theory is known,as familiarity leadstoperceptualdistortions (Kalliopuska,1985).
Severalresearchershave investigatedor studiedthebasis of implicitpersonality theories.Kalliopuska(1985)investigatedwhichbasic assumptionssul)jectsusedasa basisfor their implicitpersonalitytheories.Theresultsshowedthat thebasis was dependent on holism, subjectivity,and proactivity. First,subjeeubelieved that itwas necessary to studythe total personalityof an individual,as opposed to studyingtheir components.Second,they believedthat behaviour was Influenced by subjective experiences.Finally,subjeclsperceived thai,•..•fhe individualgenerateshis
behaviour internally rather than beingmerely abundle of reactionsto external stimuli"
(KaIliopuska,1985,p.1075). As well, some researcherslike Guilford(ascitedin De Solo,Hamilton&Taylor,1985)believethat it is possibletoexplainimplicit personality theories using the argumentof a semanticoverlap.Asch's(1946)dual functionterms(lraitwordsthatcanbeapplied to personsand non-persons)are ideal forpurposes of determining whether implicit personalitytheories are a·linguistic artifact"(DeSota et al.,1985).Examplesof suchdual functionterms included;
'warm,""cold, ""hard,"and·soft...Thecritical question is whetherthe association betweentrait wordsis a functionof implicitpersonalitytheories, orthe semanticsof the words themselves.De Sota etal.concluded that the interrelationshipamongthe dualfunction wordswas theresultofimplicit personalitytheoriesand notlinguistic similarity.
The Research HjstQryofImplicit PersonalityTheorje!
Bruner and Tagiuri(1954)were the first to propose theneedfor"naive, implicit theoriesof personality."This reflectedtheawareness that therehad been a shiftinthe literature away fromjudgmentaccuracytoward an investigationof the judgment process. Asch (1946)is credited with someof the earliest impression formation research.Asch foundthat theinclusionof the Warm-Colddimension inthe characteristicsattributedto ahypotheticalindividual significantlyinfluenced the impressionformedof the person.For example, when·Warm·was includedin alist
of qualities.the hypothetical individual was seen as humorous and popular. In contrast, when thelist contained the word -Cold-atotally different impression emerged.The results of Asch's study was supported by the work of Kelley (1950) who used "real" targets to investigate impression formation as a function of the Warm- Cold dimension.Bruner and Tagiuri(1954) corcludedhowever,that the literature relatedtoimpression formation failedtodemonstrate how people describe and categorize others in their social environment. The focus of the impression formation research wason the types of impressions,asopposed tothe processinvolvedinthe formationof impressions (Bruner&Tagiuri).
~icany,four methods have beenusedto investigate trait relationships: The useof similarity ratings (subjects assess howsimilaror dissimilarapair of traitsare).
likelihood ofco-occurancemethods (ifaperson hastrait A,what is the likelihood that he or shealsohastraitB),matrix of perceived cause-effect inference (if an individual wasto change on one construct,what other constructs would changeasa result), and theuseof measures ofcc-occurance(subjectssorttraits into categories witheach category representing a different individual) (Schneider,1973).
HQwdo People Perceiye the Personality TrailS ofOtben?
Several views have been proposed to understand how people think about the personality traits of others and what connections,ifany. are perceived between traits. The associationistic,dimensional and typological viewsarc three important
perspectivesindecipheringtheperceptualprocessunderlyingimplicitpersonality theories (Anderson&Sedilddes, 1991).The associationisticview involvesan analysis oftherelationship between personality traits and is commonlyoperationalizedusing a Pearson product-moment correlation.The dimensionalview,which happens tobethe view orthispaper,stales thatsocialperceptionexists in relationtoglobaldimensions.
Proponents of this viewpoir.t typicallyanalyze inter-traitrelationshipsusing factor analysis or multidimensionalscaling (Passini&Norman,1966;Schneider,1973).The assumptionunderlyingthese statistical procedures is that traits located spatially close to one another in a dimensional spaceare expectedtocovary (Sedikides&Anderson, 1994).Andersonand Sedikides (199:)analyzed the contributions of atypological viewincomparisontothe contributionsoftheother two views. The typologicalview uses "persontypes.toexplain person perception. The basisof this perspecuve is that inthe processof perceivingthe personalitytraitsof others we end up clustering personalitytraits. A clusterrepresents a distinct"persontype- (Anderson&, Sedikides,1991).Whenthisperspectiveis guiding the researchendeavour,cluster analysis is oftenused to identifypersontypes.
Anderson andSedikides (1991)contrasted the abovethreeviews and resolved thatthe typologicalperspectivehad a uniquecontribution not achieved or explained using eitherthe associationisticor dimensionalviews. Furthermore,itwasconcluded thatincomparisontothe otherviews,-.•.person types aremorethanclumpsoftraits that are close10each otherassociationistically or mutddimenstonalty"(Anderson&
Sc:dikides,1991,p.213). ScdikidcsandAnderson(1994)investigatedthereason underlyingtheformation of traitclustersby studying whether personality traitsare causally related to one another.Theyroncluded that persontypeswere composedof causallyconnected personality traits,andpartially aidedinhelpingone understandthe uniquecontribution underlying the typologicalperspective. Aswell,Sedikidesand Anderson(1994) investigatod whether tbe traits withinacluster are more causally relatedthantraitsthatoccupy thesame dimensionalspace,and this hypothesis was supported.Overall, SedilddesandAnderson concluded, ••..thatperceptionsof causality play an importanl role inaccounting for the bondingoftraitswithinperson l)TeS(1994, p,301).In regards tounderslandingthe structureof implicit personality theories, Anderson and Sedikides (1991)acknowledgethatitcould be either dimensional ortypological.
EstablishingaIjnkbetweenImplicitPersonalityTheoriesandSexual Behayiour Williams et al.(1992) have establisheda link between implicitpersonality theoriesandsexual behaviour.Thegoalof theirresearchwastoestablish an understanding of whycollege studentsengagedinunsafe sexual behaviours.Itwould appear thatthe studentshada weU-developedideaastothepotentialriskof contractingHIVfrom particular sexual partners.Ifstudentseitherknow orlikea potentialpartner,thatpartnerisperceivedasbeingI~riskyor notrisky atall.In assessingthe riskiness of unknown potentialpartners, students use someveryweak
guidelinessuch as,whether the partner is dressedprovocatively,whetherthe individual. was met in a bar.etc.Studentsappearquite confident in their ability to assess the riskiness of a potential partner.Resultsindicatedthat college studentswere using an implicit personality theory to assess riskinessas opposed togenerally practicingsafesex.Implicit personalitytheoriesareuseful in interpretingour social world,but theycarry a degree of inaccuracy.In the caseof assessing HIV riskiness of a potential partner the use of an implicitpersonality theory is dangerous,if not deadly.Intheend,"...it mustbeemphasizedthat,in theabsence of specific knowledgeregarding the partner's HIV status,knowing one's partner and being monogamousdo not constitute safer sex"(Williamset
ar.,
1992, p.927).In sum, WilliamsetaI.help onetounderstandthe implicationsofimplicit personalitytheories on sexual behaviour.ImpJjcjtAnitude~
Implicitattitudetheoriesare analogousto implicitpersonality theories.The focus ofresearch relatedto implicitpersonality theorieshascentred on understanding the emergenceof "lay-person"theoriesused by people to organize and interpret the personalitiesof others.Implicit attitudetheories help people organize theperceived attitudesof others. For example,an implicitpersonalitytheory may includethe assumptionthatan intelligentperson islikely tobecold.Similarly, an implicit
attitudetheory mayunderlie peoplc'sexpectations thainegativcattitudestoward
"homosexuality-and"sex education-are likelyto occurtogether.
Judgingfrom the researchhistory on implicitpersonality theorics,it appears thatthe basisfor such theoriesis tohelp organizeandinterpretone'ssocial surroundingsthrough the creation ofan unccnsclcusstructure,which handlesan enormousinflux of information. Likewise, using the analogous conceptof implicit attitude theories,various researchers supportthe positionthat individualsperceive the attitudes of othersaccordingtosomc dimensionalstructure(Button,Grant,Hannah&
Ross, 1993; Grant,Hannah,Ross&Button,inpress; Messick,1956;Nelson,1974).
DimensjonalityofPerce1yedA1timcks
Little empiricalworkhas investigatedhow we perceive the attitudesof others or the structureof suchattitudes.Messick(1956), forexample, investigatedthe structureof perceived social attitudesusing a muitidimensionalscaling technique.He found that attitudes towardwarandpunishmentwere structured along two dimensions.
One ofthe main criticismsof the work by Messick was thatthestudyemployedonly a few attitudes (Buttonetal••1993;Nelson,1974).Nelson(1974)usedthesame attitudes as Messick (1956), butadded eight more:Realityof God, divorce,birth control,patriotism,law, sex information,censorship,andmentalhospitals. Earlier research onactual attitudesserved as the basis forthe possible dimensionsunderlying the structureof perceived social attitudesinNelson's(1974)study.Nelsonconcluded
that the attitudesof interestwere structuredalonga "liberal-Conservative"dirr.ension, a "Moderate·Extremc" dimension, and a thirddimension that proved uninterpretable.
Buttoneal. (1993)expanded the studyof the multidimensionality of perceived social attitudesby exploringa more diverseset of attitudesthan previously investigated by Messick(1956)and Nelson(1974). Besidethe inclusionof 32 differentattitudinalissues, a distinguishing characteristic of the study by Buttonet al.
was that the attitudeissueswere generatedby students,as opposedto the researchers themselves. The findingsindicatedthat perceivedaltitudeswere structuredalong two relativelyindependent dimensions:one associatedwith liberalism,the other a concern with traditionalvalues. The liberal dimension identifiedby Buttonetal.was seen3..'J similar to, but not interchangeable with, the liberaldimensioncommonlyreported in the structureof actualattitudes. They also speculatedthat the dimensionof liberalism in perceivedattitudeswas more global than the liberaldimensionin actual attitudes.
The seconddimensionreflected a concern with maintaining the status quo at one end, and advocating radicalchangeat the other end.
Grant, Button. Hannah,&Ross (1993)obtainedsupportiveevidenceregarding the existenceof the Liberal-Conservative dimension and the dimensionreflectinga concern for moraIsand traditions (Traditional·Radical), as well they expandedon the applicationof ihese dimensions. In Phase I, subjectsrated an hypotheticalindividual accordingto the dimensionsidentifiedby Buttonetal,(1993), while in Phase 2 subjectswere askedtoindicatetheir level of agreemcraand rate the level of
importancethey attachedtosuch issues (Grant et aI.,1993). Attitudes representing the extremesof the two dimensions have higher importanceratings,allopposedto those morecentral in attitude space. As an example, for the Liberal-Conservative dimensionthe followingattitude statementshadhigh importanceratings: "Condoms should be made readily available to adolescents,"representedtheliberalendpoint, while "A large number of unemployedpersonsdo not really want to find work,~ representedthe conservativeendpoint. Grant et aI. (in press) examined how impressionsof another person are formed as a functionof the perceived attitude structure identifiedby Button etaI.(1993). They hypothesizedthat iftheLiberal- Conservativeand Traditional·Radical dimensionsare in fact used in both processing thealtitudes of others and forming impressions,then altering the consistency of
attributed attitudesshould affect impression ratings.Inother words, if an attributed attitude deviates from other attitudes on one or both of the dimensions, it wouldbe ratedallfitting the other attitudes less closelythan one that does not deviate. The lowest fit ratings shouldbeobservedinthe case of discrepancy on both dimensions.
Not only didtheresults confirm their expectations,but a comparison of the two- dimensionalmodel with two possible one-dimensional models provided additional construct validationfor their model (Grant et al.,in press).
If the dimensionsidentified by Buttonet al. (1993),andNelson (1974) are externally valid to all domains of social issues, then they ought to emerge in a similar analysis of perceivedsexual attitudes. Positive results would indicate the
10, gen~-ralizAbilityof thesedimensions,whilenegativeresultswouldindicatetheunique structure underlying perceived sexualattitudes.Thehypothesis directing thisstudy was thatthe two-dimensional structure identified by Buttonet al.(1993) wouldalso applytoperceived sexual attitudes. It was also expected thatthe Liberal·Conservative and Traditional-Radicallabels wouldbethemost appropriate forthetwo dimensions, shouldthey emerge.In sum,itwas predictedthatthe structure underlying implicit attitude theories couldbe appliedtobothgeneral and specific perceivedattitudes .
The dimensionalview of implicitattitudetheoriesis the researchbasisof this thesis, focusint;onthe identification of global dimensionsthat are viewedallthe structure of perceived sexualattitudes.The researchwasconductedin two phases: Phase1investigatedthe mainobjective of the thesis (namely ,toderive an appropriate dimensional configurationfor perceivedsexual attitudes);Phase2 was designedto suggestappropriatelabelsfor communicatingthedimensional solutionidentifiedin PhaseI.
PhaseI
~.A three-stageprocedurewas usedtoproducethe initiallistof sexual issues.First,35 issueswereidentified when 32 unpaidundergraduate students majoringinpsychology wereaskedtocomplywiththe followinginstructions:
11 Your wk as asubjectwillbe to generatethreesexualWUCS that)'OUdeemimportantandrecordyour answenin thespaces providedbelow.
Second••5 issuescoveredbyvariousopinioopollsandscaleswere included: CarolinaPoIlIndeJ:(Spring, 1987),GeneralSocialSurvey (1991),LouisHarris Surveys (April, 1961;May,1969 ; August,1970; October,1971),NationalNetwork of Stud ies Polls (February, 1990), Fearof AIDS Scale&.Homophob ia Scale (Bouton et al.,1987),AttitudesToward Sexuality Scale (Fisher&.Hall,1988), Short-Form HomosexismScale(Hansen,1982), SexualAttitudesScale(Hendrick ,Hendrick, Siapion-Foote,&.Foote,1985),AttitudesTowardLesbiansandGayMen(Herek, 1988) ,as wellas items fromAbernathy,Robinson,Balswick,andKing (1979),Button etat(1993),andNurt and Sedlacek (1974).rmally,theresearcher compileda list of 55sexual issuesthathadreceivedgeneralor special coveragein~
~(St.John' "NF)andTheGlobeandMajl (foronto,Ontario)between June 1"andAugust 31·, 1993.Fliminatiooclredundantorsimilarissuesresultedin20 specific
wue.s.
Altitude Statcmenu.The objectivewastogenerate anumberofattitudinal itemsfor eachofthe previously identifiedissues. Twentyunpaidundergraduatepsychology studentswhohad notpreviouslyparticipatedin Phase1wererecruitedtogenerate attitudinalitems.Beforethe construction
or
attitude items,eachstudentreceiveda12 copyof pohusCO followin developing good attitudinalitems(see Appendix A). They werealso given instructions delineating their task:
Please listen carefully 10the researcher as to howto writeclear and conciseattitudeitems.After receivingthese instructions you will beasked 10write twoattitude items for each of the sexual issues that willbeprovided to you,foratotalof six items.•••
[EXAMPLE).••It shouldbenoted that we are not interested in your attitudes,but requlreyour assistance in generatinga pool of itemstobeusedina later stageof theresearchproject.
The processdescribedabove resultedina pool of approximately 100 items expressing sexual attitudes.As well, itemsfromthe various opinion pollsand scales mentioned previously were included.The total item poolwas composed of 342 attitudestatements.AUitemswere thencetegcrized byIssue, andexamined for ambiguity.The experimenterand a naive raterindependently cetermined the appropriateness of eachitem underit!assignedcategory.The decisionrule was to deleteanyitem thai could be placed under morethan onecategorylabel. Alluems werethen edited forclaritybya panelofjudgt',s composedof facultymembersand onegraduatestudent.Theresultofthisprocedure wasatotalitem poolof 198 items on 20 different issues,witha range of 4 - 38 statements per issue(see Appendix8).
Theset of items wasthen dividedintotwo selSof 99 items.Toensure representation ofallissuesin bothdatasets, the itemswereorganized according toissueand then numbered. Even numberswereassignedto data set (Al,odd numberstodataset[B].
Finally.the99 itemsin eachdataset were examinedtomakecertainthaino twoitems fora particular issuewithina set were100 similar. Iftwo item!were deemed tobe
13 100 similar in onedataset, one item was switchedwitha comparable iteminthe seconddataset.The rationale for using twodatasell was twofold.Itreduced the demandsplaced on any givensubject,suchthatsubjectsvieweddataset[A) or data set [B), but notboth.Furthermore, the use of aseconddatasetprovided a replication within the same study and a basis for testing the reliability of the items themselves.
~.One hundred undergraduate students (50 males and 50 females) at Memorial University of Newfoundland were each paid $4.75toparticipateInPhase1.Equal numbersof malesand females wererandomlyassignedtoeach of the two item sets.
Subjeeu wereinformed of the attitudesunder investigation before the studywas initiated.One malesubjectfailedtocomplete the studyandwasreplaced with the next available maleparticipant.
~.The mainobjectiveof this studywastoexaminethe assumptionspeople make about the inter-connections among the sexual attitudes of others.ludgments betweenallpossible combinations of attitudinal items (for instance,paired comparisons)wouldbeideat, but with such a large pool of items thiswas not practical. The method choseninsteadwastohave subjectssort attitudestatementsinto mutuaJlyexclusivecategories.Thissorting methodhas beenshowntobe an appropriatealternativewhenthe number of attitudeitemsislarge (Rosenberg&Kim, 1975; Rosenberg, Nelson,&Vivekananthan, 1968).
14 Aninteracdvecomputerprogramdeveloped by Button et al.(1993)was used toassistinthesorting procedure.I mMcompatible computer systemswere used 10 present in structio ns,stimuli and torecord all responses .The instructionspointed out that:
In this studywe are interestedinhow people thinkabout other'ssexual attitude.t. Sometimes,ifyou know thatapersontwoneattitudeyou can guessotherattitudesthathe orsheislikelytohave•••.
[EXAMPLE]...In this study. youwillbeaskedtomake guesses of thissort. Youwillbeasked to imagineaperson whoagreeswithsome statement and then toguesswhetheror notthe sameperson would agreewitheach ofaseriesof different statements.
Press the enterkeynow 10 sec how thescreenwilllook and how you winbeaskedtomake a decision.
Ifagirlgetspregnant,
~ 't's
herC:~;-;;i;;V~reqUi;~
own {ault. after marriage.
- - --- - - - - ----.---_..
Would apersonwhoagreed withthe statement on theleft. alsoagree withthestatement ontheright?
I-Yes 2-No 3=NotSurc PleasetypeI,2,or 3 and then pressenler?
Aftersubjects were familiarized with the procedure usingan example,theywere given thefollowinginstructions;
Ina momentyouwillseea setofstatementson thescreen.From thesestatements,pleaseselect onethat reflectsan attitudethatyou considerimportant.Thismayormay notbea statement youagree with.However,itshouldbea statement thatyou thinkwouldtellyou a lot about thepersonwhomadeit.
15 ('Thecomputer screen thenlisted10primestatements followedbythe followinginstructions);
Whichof these statementsreflects the mostimportant attitude?
Aftertheselection of a prime item, subjectsbegan the comparisonprocedure withthe
"prime" representinga particularcategory.The computerpresentedtwo items, one wasthe prime statement selected by thesubject.and thesecondwasa comparison
item.
The computerscreenappearedas illustrated below;
[
- '-'-o mosexuanlyagainst the law.
;ho;;i;ISex
wit/unispermi...marriage.bleonly--I
____ _ __[PRlME_J____ [COMP~SONSTATEMENT]
To recap.subjectswereaskedtoevaluateeach attitudinal statement(total of 99 statements)with the prime statement. That is, if someonewas to agreewiththe prime statement would he/she also agree with the comparisonitem.Anitem was addedto the categoryrepresented by the primestatementifthe responsewas ·yes".andthen removedfrom the itemset.Uponcompletingthis sorlin& processfor one category, the procedurewasrepeatedfor anothercategory. The remaining itemswerethen presentedin randomorder for this nextprime. This procedurewasrepeateduntil any one ofthe(ollowing conditions arose:a)all10 prime statementshadbeenused,b)all
16 comparisonstatementsbadbeeneliminated fro mthepoolofattitude items,orc:)no comparisonileITISwereeliminated after two consecutiveprimes.
Subject.s wen:limited1010primes orcategories,butnolimitwallplacedon thenumberof hemstheycouldp1aceineachcategory(set:Appcndicell CandD).
Ten primes weredeemed sufficienton thebasis of previousresearchbyBuuon eral.
(1993). Forsubjectswhowererandomly assignedtodataset[AJ,the10prime statements wererandomly selectedfrom datasetlBl .andvice-versa. Allsubjects in a particular datasetwere given the same seCof primes.
Multidimensional ScalingAna1n ia
Multidimensionalscaling(MDS) analysiswasemployedinthepresent study because ofits proven suitabilityinpastresearch of this type. ButtonetaI. (1993), Messick (1956>,andNelson(1974)employed theMDSprocedureintheir investigations of percei...edattitudes.AnMDS znalysiscan be used to identifya dimensional structurethatbestfilsa set of data(Kruskal,Young,&.Seery,1977).
Theprerequisiteforan MDSanalysis arepairwisesimilarity or reJ.a!edl1CSll judgements for a set ofobjeeu (forexample,attitudestatements). The MDS procedure then provides, •••.ageometricrepresentation ofthe setof items sothat the interitemdistanceinthespacecorresponds to theempirical measure of psycholoeical relatedness- (Rosenberg ee al. ,1968,p,283).Onecouldinterpretpsychological relatednessby eithe rattitudesimilarity orattitudeco-cccurreace judgments.
17 Consequently,itemsthatarejudgedtobeeithersimilarortoco-occur in thesame individual are locatedat pointsthat are spatially closetoone another(Borg&
Lingoes,1987;Schiffman,Reynolds,&Young,1981).Kruskal'sMDS method (KYST·2A)increasesdimensionality(one,two,three,etc.)until thereis littlechange in the"good nessoffit." The indexof goodnessoffitis"s tress.' A stress value (percentage)is generated(oreachdimensionalsolution ;thelower the stress value the better the goodnessoffit.
Resultsand DiscussioD
In ordertodo an MDSanalysis,thegeneration of a similarity matrix for each dataset was required,withthe99 rowsand columnsrepresenting the 99 attitude statements containedin each set. A large numberinanycellof this matrix representedhigh similarity betweenthose two items whilea low numwrrepresented dissimilarity.Eachceil inthematrixreflected the similarity of the row and column statements asindicatedbythe numberofsubjects who placedthe statementsinthe samecategory.TwoMDSanalysesusingKYST·2A(Kruskalet aJ••1917)were conducted,one onthe similaritymatrixfordatasetA and the otlteron the matrix for datasetB.
Kruskal (1964)providesacriterionforhelpingtheexperimenterdecideon the bestdimensionalsolution(thatis,the solutionthatbest fits thedata).First, the researchershouldchoosea "t"(numberofdimensions)thatresultsina smallstress
18 value and where additional dimensions fail to significantly lower the stress value. A visual plot of stress valuesbydimensionality can aid this decision (Kruskal, 1964;
Schiffman etat.,1981),inthat theexistence of an "elbow"in the stressvetues suggeststhe best dimensional solution.The elbowis the point where the stress values starttolevel off. Furthermore, the interpretabilityof the dimensionsshouldaffect the
"t"that is selected. Generally speaking, it is better to choose a lower dimensional solution thantoselect a higher dimensional solution which one isunable to interpret.
Comparison of the stress values for the data sets A and B demonstrates notable agreement indicating high reliability and validity (see Figure 1).Inbothdatasets there was a clear-cut elbowin the plot of stress values at a two-dimensional solution.
As previously stated the existenceof such anelbowIs one of the criteria.besides interpretability, needed to determine the mostappropriate dimensionalconfiguration.
Onthe basis of this distinct elbowitwas concludedthat a two-dimensional solution best representedeachdataset.
The interpretabilitycriterion requires that itemsfalling in the four·quadrants·
createdbya two-dimensional configurationareperceivedassensiblyfitting togetheras aset. Figures 2and 3provide sample itemdescriptorsto representdata sets A and 8 (respectively),ineachof the quadrants formedby theintersectionof the two dimensions.Tables 1and2list the actual attitude statementsbyquadrant for datasets A and B (respectively),theseitemsare theselected itemsdisplayedinFigures2and 3.Itis importanttounderstandthat within any particular quadrant certain itemswill
Figure 1.Plotofstress valuesbydimensions for data setsAandB.
0.4, -- - - -- - -- - -- - -- - - ----,
0.35
19
~ 0.2S
~
~ 02. g
U)0,150.05
• Data SetA -+Data Set B
o
L.- ~ ~ ____l1
Dimensions
Note. The arrow identifiesan"elbow "inthestressvalues.The elbow isused to suggest thebestdimensionalsolution.Therefore,theelbowattwo-dimensic-abest represents data setsA and B.
20
Figure 2: Atwo-dime nsionalplotofse~attilUdinaJitemsas afunctionof similarityfor dataset [A).
DataSetA
Quadnnt1 Quadnant2
"
.s
il
~
Quadrant4
5t1o m__uui ty- 3B'", . uaIity•
' ...
Dimension2
I Selll&lity-
Quadrant3
Note.The positive ornegative sign after eachdescriptorreferstothedirectionof the item wording.Forexample,sexualsatisfaction+ representsa positiveattitude towardssex,namely "Ihebestsexis with nostrings attached,"Referto TableI fortheactual attitoJdestateme ntsbyquadrant usingtheappropria te number reference.
21
Figure 3:A two-dimensional plot of selected attitudinal itemsas a function of similarity for data set [BI,
DataSetB
QuadrantI
IJ>omovapby-
Quadrant2
2 Bianua1ity- IHo'nooelULIl1iIy"
3s"IBduea1io.l·
Quadranl4 Dimension2 Quadnnl3
Note. The positivecornegativesignaftereachdescriptorreferstothedirectionof
~~mp:=:i :~~=~e ':S:=~h~do+n~=:x~~:~~tfore
marriageare slIangc.·RefertoTable2 fortheactualattitudestatementsby quadrant usingtheappropriate number reference.
22 Table1
AttitudestatroH:Dl1rrnmmk;dinFigure2 for data XllA)
Quadnnt1
I. Thebestsexiswithno strings attached.(+) 2. Prostitutionshouldbe acc.eptedbysociety.(+) 3. I would like to have sexwithmany-p.il...1nets.(+)
Quadrant2
1. SometimesI amashamed of my sexuality.(-)
2. Iwouldobjecttosendingmy childtoa schoolwhichhadachild whohas AIDS.(-)
3. Bisexualsare sick individuals.{-)
4. Inever worryaboutgettinga sexuallytransmitteddisease.(·) S. Ithink male homosexualsaredisgusting.(·)
Quadnnl3
1. Abortio.Jismurder.(-)
2. Prostitutesupon conviction should receivelonejail terms.(·) 3. Mostyoungmenstillconsideritveryimportantforawomantostaya virgin
untilmarriage.(-)
Quadrant4
I. Premaril4: sex atan early ageis asign of normalcuriosity,{+) 2. Itis possible for a husband to rapehiswife.(-) 3. SexhaJnothing todowithpower.(+ )
23 Table 2
Attitude agremept! represented inFigure 3 for data set[BJ
Quadrant1
1. Sexual abusers oUi!:ht tobe given counselling,not prison sentenccs.(+) 2. Phonesex is a safeandhealthyoutletfor sexualdesires.(+) 3. Homosexualscontributepo~;tiye1ytosocicty.{+) 4. Laws makingabortionsillegalshouldberepealed.(+)
Quadrant 2
1. Our government shouldtryharder to preventthe distribution of pornography(-) 2. Abortion is terrible.(-)
3. Procreation shouldbe thesole purposeof sex.(+) 4. Using "sex toys" during lovemakingis abnormal.(-)
Quadrant3
I. Homosexualityshouldbeagainstthelaw.C-) 2. Bisexualityis a mentaldlsorder.I-) 3. Sex education doesnot be!ongintheschools.C-)
Quadrant4
1. Students who do not have sexual intercourse before marriage are strange.(+) 2. Extramaritalaffairs areall rightaslong as one'spartner doesn'tknow about
lhem.(+)
3. Religiosityisthe cause of sexualguilt.C-)
24 bemorerepresentativeDCthetwo-dimensioualsolutionthanotheritems.For c:umple,inFigure 2 • Quadrant 4,theitem on premarital sex isclearlynotugood an item10representbothDimensionsIand2 astheitem on rape.
InFigure 2 statementsopposingprostitution,premari.aJsex, and abortion appeartofonn one reasonable set.Other setsincludedstatements opposing sexuality, AIDS,homosexualityandbisexuality;statementsthatwere supportive of seJ.ual satisfaction,prostitution,and sexual permissiveness;and statementssupporting premaritalsex and dismissingthelinkbetween llCX and power.InFigure 3 statements supporting premarital sex and extramarital sex existedin one quadrant representinga two-dimensional configuration. ()dletsetsor quadrantsincluded statements taldngs:
strong position against sexual abuse,while atthesametime includeditems supporting homosexuality,abortion,andphone sex; statementsthatwereopposedtopornography, abortionandsex toys,but were supportiveof procreation;andstatementsthatwere against homosexuality,bisexualityand sex education.
Aspreviou5Jy stated, itwu concludedthatthe structure ofperceived
saw
attitudes is bestdescribed bytwo dimensions as indicatedbylhe existence of a clear elbowatthetwo dimensional point (see FigureI),andby the criterion of interpretabilil)',The hypothesis....1thus supported.
Theresultsprovidefurther evidence tosupportthe contention ofButfonetat.
(1993)andOrant etaI.(inpress) thatpeoplc's perceptionsor others'attitudes arc meaningfullystructuredinps]'chotogicalspace. Thismeans tha.tattitudeswhichon
25 the surfacemay appeartobeunrelated arein(act connected to eachother througha two-dimensional structure.Thus a person'sattitudeon one issue, providesevidence regarding theirattitude on other issues. For example in Figure 2 (data set A) subjects perceivedthata personsupportingan attitudestatement knownto~homosexuality wouldbe assumed to also support attitude statements~abortion and prostitution. As weU, this conclusion is replicated indataset B (Figure 3), such that individuals who are thought to support premarital sex would alsobethought tobe supportiveof extramarital sex.Ifa person is knownto endorseattitude statements in one particular"quadrant"of the two-dimensionalarray, then there is an increased probabilityor chancethat they will rejectattitudinal positionsreflectingthe other three quadranu with the strongestrejectionoccurring(or attitudes. reflectingacceptance of the diagonalquadran t.For example in Figure 2(data setA) subjects perceived that someonesupporting a positiveattitudestatementexemplifying sexual permissiveness wouldbemore likelytobeopposed tonegative statements representing prostitution andabortion. As well, this conclusionillreplicatedindataset B(seeFigure 3),such thaisubjectsperceived that individuals s,mportive of statements pertainingtophone sex and abortionwouldbemore likely tobeopposedtonegativeattitude statements representing bisexuality and sex education,'Thisperceptualprocess ar.dgeneralization could notbepossiblewithoutsome type of psychological structureunderlyingall perceived attitudes. Sinceinterpersonalattractionanddatingarc often basedon attitudesimilarity,the rwo-dlmenslcnal structureor perceivedattitudesand L'le implicit
26 attitude theories they underlie mayaidthese processesbyprovidingadditional evidence regarding attitudesthat a person may notyethave expressed.Itmay, for example,benIXusefultobeable to discern a potential date'sprobable attitude towardsafe sex fromotherexpressed attitudes.
Phase
z
The purpose of Phase 2wastoidentify possiblelabels for the two-dimensional structure observed in Phase 1. FOIIT possible labels were investigated:Liberal- Conservative(L-C),Traditional-Radical(T-R),Active-Passive(A-P),and Warm-Cold (W.q,Itwas bypctheelzedthatratingson the first two scaleswouldbethe most closely related to the dimensionsof the MDS structure (i.e.,aLiberaj-Conservauve label and a Traditional-Ibdicallabel wouldbethe most appropriate). The L-CandT- Rscales represent thelabels that Button etal.(1993) concluded were themost appropriatefortheirtwo dimensions.The A·P and W-C scaleswere included 10 providedivergentvalidity.The use of two data setsagainpermittedcross-validation of the results.
M<lJwil
~. Sixtymaleand 60 femaleundergraduate studentsat MemorialUniversityof Newfoundland were paid$4.7Sto participateinPhase 2.Subjects were randomly assignedtoone of six groups,10 malesand 10 females per set.EachgroupWall
27 given a subsetof thetotalitempool. The purposeofthiswastoreduce the time requiredfotsubjectstocompletetheir task and reduce problemsassociatedwith fatigue.Subjects wereinformed of thenature of theattitudes under investigstion, before thestudy wu initiated.
~. The 198 items used in Phase 1 were randomly dividedintosixequalsets of 33 statements. Statementsina particular set were presentedtothe subject in a random order.Subjects ratedaUstatementsinthe set accordingtoone scale, before continuingthe ratingswithanother scale.The orderin which the scales were presentedwasrandomlydeterminedfor eachsubject.Subjecuinteracted with a computer that providedthe necessaryinstructionsand examples,and recorded all responses.The instructionsstatedthat:
In litispartof the study youwillbeshownsomeattitude statements and, for eachone. you willbeasked10imaginea person who strongly agreeswiththestatement.Thenyouwillbeaskedtorate this imaginarypersonon the followingscale for example: Very Conservative 1 2 3 4S6 7 VeryLiberal
Rate the personasquickly as you can,by pressingone of the number keysacross the top of your keyboard.Please rememberthat you are rating aDIFFERENTimaginary personfor eachstatement.
Results and Discussion
Theunits ofanalysisinPhase 2 werethe attitude statements themselves.Each statementhad four scores,each score representinga different rating scale.A mean
2B l'ating for each item was calculatedon each of tile four scalesbyaveraging the ratings of the20 subjects who saw that item.Multiple regressionanalyses were carried out for each ofthefour scales using SPSSx (StatisticalPackage for Social Sciences), in which the meanrating for each scalewas the dependent measure and the MDS coordinates (rom Phase 1 for each statement served as the predictor variables. These regression analyseswere used to help identify lhe appropriate labels for the twa-dimensionalsolution.According to Rosenberg, -the multipleR provides a quantitativeestimate of the degree to which a property actually correspondsto a dimension in thetrait space- (Rosenberg etaI.,1968, p. 285).
The results indicatedthat all R1values for the investigatedlabels were significant at 11<.001 (df=2, 96) and. therefore, couldbedeemed acceptable,with the possible exception of Active-Passive whichhadthe lowest R1values for both data sets. The four scales did differinthe amount ofvariability explained,and hence intheir appropriatenessas a label (see Table 3). In Data Set [A], irC and T-R were clearly the best labels, while in Data Set [8], irC and W-C were the best. Inter-scale correlations reveal a high degree of overlap for these particular sets of labels (see Table 4), particularly for L-C and T_R.2
Itwas concludedthat the Liberal-Conservativelabel was the best label for Dimension1.Itaccountedfor the most variance in Data SetrA]and the second most varianceinData Sel [8]. The Uberal-Conservative label has alsobeenidentified by other researchers (Buttonet al., 1993;Messick, 1956; Nelson, 1974).
Tahir·3
MultipleR and 8 2 \fatueS for Each or the Four Scales Used inPhase2 to SUggest lAbels for Communicating the MDS Configuration ror Data Sets A and B
29
Data Set A DataSetB
MultipleR Scale
R' MultipleR R'
L-C
T·R W.c A·P
.898
.886 .821 .606
.807 .785 .674 .367
.826 .TI8 .875 .554
,683
.606 ,765
.306
l!lll<.
T-R=Traditional-Radical L-C=Liberal-Conservative W-C = Warm-Cold A·P== Active-Passive
Table4
CQae!ations Among the FourScales for pata Sets AandB
30
SetA
T~R W-C A-P Ire .91- .54 .59
T-R .34 .50
W-C .52
SetB
T-R W-C A-P
L-C .88 .62 .60
T-R .40 .52
WAC .47
~
T-R
=
'praditional-Radlcal L-C=Liberal-Conservative W-C=Warm-Cold A-P=Active-Passive-Allrvalues are significantbeyondthe.01 level.
31 Itwas alsoconcludedthat.subjects were apparentlyunabletoclearly label the seconddimension on the basis of labelsprovided.Despitethe fact that subiectsused two dimensionsin making similarity judgments of perceived attitudes,as evidencedby theMDSanalysis in Phase I,there does notappeartobea distinct label, based on the ones usedin this study,that canbeattac hedto the second dimension that will readily elicit its usebysubjects. Itis conceivable that this seconddimension is an evaluative dimension (Osgood. Suci,Tannenbaum,1957),towhich a single labelisnot appropriate. Thefactthatthe Warm-Cold label was at least as goodaseither of the othertwo labels1\UPPOrts this notion. Perhaps,thrrefore,a singlelabelis not possible,or evenappropriate,and the dimensionis best labelledbya composite of several evaluativelabels.
GeneralDiscussion
Itwas expectedthatthe two-dimensionalstructure of perceivedattitudes previously identifiedby Buttonetat(1993),wouldemerge from a similaranalysisof perceivedsexual attitudes.Itwas also expected that the Liberal-Conservative and Traditional-Radical labels wouldbethemostappropriateofthe fourexamined.The first hypothesis was clearly confirmed.Inboth datasets, twointerpretabledimensions were revealedbythe MOS.Concerning thesecondhypothesis,liberal-Conservative appearstobetheappropriate labelof one dimension, thus supportingpreviouswork (Buttonet aI.,1993; Grantet al.,inpress;Hoskins,1994).Theredoes not appearto
32 bea clearlabelforthe seconddimensionsinceboth Traditional·RadicalandWarm- Cold maybecapturingthe possible"evaluative" natureofthisdimension.The TnditionaJ.-Radica1label isrecommendedasthe"best"basedon recent validationsof thislabel(Grant dal.,inpress;Hoskins,1994). Itisimportanttobeable10 look beyondtheissue of labellingtoseetheimplicationsofthisresearch.TheMDS results were supportiveof adimensionalunderstanding ofimplicitattitudetheories.Subjects were abletoformtheirown implicitattitudetheory asto how sexual attitudes were relatedorunre lated.Theresultsraise some interestingquestions. How doesthe dimensionalview ofimplicitattitudetheories tie inwithothermodels? Arcthere any appliedimplicationsfor thistypeof research?Are altemau vemethodsof labelling dimensionsavailable?
Rs;!ationsbiptoOlbc:rModels
Theactivation modelofJudd. Drake.Downingand Krosnick(1991)has implicationsforourunderstandingofperoeivcdSCAualaltitudes.JuddetaI.takethe theoretical positionthatactualattitudesarcstructuredinlong termmemory,and thereforeretrievalissystematic(i.e.,oncean attit udeisrecalledtheprobabilitythat related opinionswill beactivated increases substantially). Itis plausiblelhallhis modelis generalizabletotheperceptionofother peoplehol ding certain attitudes.In attitudespace.someattitudesare spatiallycloseto one anotheras a resultofa psychologicalsimilarity.The retrievalof oneitemin theattitudespaceshould result
33 inactivation spreading to other ,spatially adjacentitems.For example,inthe MDS structureofthepresent study, the following perceivedattitudeswere spatially adjacen~."Bisexual s are sick individuals" and ·1think male homosexuals are disgusting." Consequently,the perceptionthat your friend believesbisexuals are sick should~y.lead to the activationofthe perceptionthatthe same friend believes thatmaleho mosex uals are disgusting.Incontrast, items that aredistant from one another inpsychologicalspace should resultinslower retrieval.For example,the followingitems were very distantspatially: "Sexualabusersoughttobegiven counselling,notprison sentences" and "Teenpregnancyis a result of high divorce rates." Therefore,the perception that a person holds oneofthese attitudeswould not quickly activate the belief that the person alsoholds the other attitude.
The heuristicprocessing modelbyChaiken (1980)can perhapsbeapplied to the structureofpercet..edattitudesas well.Itis possiblethatpeople use a dimensional structuresimilar to thatidentified with sexualattitudesas a heuristicfor judgingotherpeople'sattitudes. The structurallayout of attitudesintwo-dimensional spacecan function as a way of organizing attitudesforspecificindividuals.For example,yourbest friend may have negative attitudesregardi ngabortion,and consequently,you organizetheseattitudesin spacerelativetopossibleattitudeson other issues.The spatial placementofany attitudeis readilyavailableto beused as a heuristicindrawinginferencesregardingyour friend. UnlikeJudd's et aI.(1991) model of spreadingactivation,Chaiken's(1980)heuristicprocessingmodel suggests
3.
thatevenattitudathatare polaroppositesoughttoactivl1Cattitudeperceptions.For CJlamplc.knowingthatapersonbelievesthathon:osexualsshouldbeallowed tohffid church positions.must also meanthattheydD....m:!tbelievethathomosexualJneed psydlologicalor medicalhelp.Selected setsorperceivedattitudescouldbeusedin futureresearchto testthedifferentialpredictions ofibesetwomodels.
Aw ned
Implicationsof ImplicitAttitudeTlm:n:ig One ofthegoalsof thisthesiswas to employa diversesetof sexual issues to understandnot only the relationshipbetweensimilarsexualissues but also very differentissues. Itis certainlyconceivablethatifyou knew someone's position on sex education, forexample,thatyou could possiblypredict their positiooonsimilar issues (suchaspremarital sex ormr.sturbation),byapplyinganimplici tattitude theory . Implicationsarisingoutof thisresearchstu::lymaybeusedasanappliedtoollor marriage counscllontohelpresolveproblemsof sexual intimac y in marriages .Themarriagecounsellor(OUldusethestructure ofpen:ciVNsexualatlitudesas away of comparinghowpartnersina marriage perceivethesexual interestandattitudes of each other.Furthermore,a marriagecounsellorwncis awareofaproblemof obtainingtruthfulanswers,mayaskal»Upletorespond to aless sensitive attitudinal iteminorder to possibly deducetheir positiononarelatedbut different sexualissue (or checkthetruthfulness of thecouples'statements).Todothis,thecounsellor wouldchoosetwo attitudinalitemsthatarespatiallyclose (secFigures 2&.3).
35 As well,the structural understandingof implicitattitudetheorieshas implication!on the issue of sexualin~macy.Ifa maleor female misperceivesthe lackor eexualintimacy of their partner as being dueto a lack ofdesire, as opposedto fatigue related to work,thenproblemsinmarriage may arise.'The person may have failed to considerallthe possiblereasonsunderly;ngthe observed change in sexual intimacy before formingan implicitattitudetheory.Implicitattitude theoriesare advantageousas a perceptual tool but they may carry a degree of inaccuracy.
Altrrn atiye Approaches 10 Labelling Dimensions.
The difficultyin labelling the second dimensionmaybe the resultof either the contentillielf(e.g.,sexuality) ortheprocedure employed. Regarding content,it is possiblethat peoplehave a difficul1 timelabellingsexualissuesand attitudesbecause ofencumbering emotional,political,and culturalovertones.For the labelling procedure.subjectswere givena seriesof four scalelabels.This maynotbethemost appropriate approachbecause the possiblelabels were determineda..w:imib)'the researcher.Hence,alternative approachesthat are lessdirective and more phenomenological in nature mightbeemployedin futureresearchon labelling dimensionalsolutions. One such alternativemaybeto useamethodanalogousto Kelly'sRepertoryGrid approachin the studyof personalconstructs (1955).In this procedure,subjo-:tscouldbegiven sets of threestatements, each statement representing a differentquadrantinthe MDSstructure.Subjects wouldbe askedto
36 identify whicl! twoitems aresimilar toeacho~and differentfromthethird.They wouldthenteasked to describe howthetwo items arc similarandhowtheydiffer fromthethird.Theresult mightbeamoreICCUC3tewayof understandingan MDS structure.
Allemaovcly, subjectsmightbegiventwoitems fromoneendofa dimension andone from theotherend to compare. JanesandDaydiscuS!theimplicationsof the grid method as,•.••melhod(s]availabletothe researcherinterested in understanding ho",:an individualconstrues and interprets and organizes reality- (1977,p.128).Itis quite possiblethat thegrid methodmay complementMDS analysisbyaiding inthe labellingprocess, asopposedto beingconsidered a distinct melhod of studyingthe inlerpretalionofa psychologicalspace. ContentanalysisofIa.beIsthatsubjcctll genenteforthemselves isalso analtemati¥e(Hoskins,1994 ).
Thepotentialof thesemethodologiesulimited becausethedataare qualilalive andccnsequeulylessamenableto powerfulstatistical;'Il'alyses.Also, regardingthe labellingproc=dure.thepresentstudyadoptedaprocedurethat,whiledesigned 10 maximizesubjects'dlscrtmlnauonofthelabels,mayhaveinadvertentlydonejuslthe opposite.InButtonetaI.(1993),subjects rated each itemonfourscales,thenwent ontothe next item.Itis possible thatthis proceduremight unduly enhance the correlation between the scalelabels. In the present study,subjects rated all itemson one scale before goingon to the nextscale.However, having gone through 99 items on one scale,subjects might,despite the changein1abeIs,simply have carried on
37 using-thescaleintheirheads" forthe second, third andfourth time through the items.Ifso,this couldexplainthe very highcorrelations betweenthe scale labels.
Given that, the labelling procedureitselfmaybe problematic,andiffuture researchcontinuestoindicate problemswithlabellingdimensions,itmaybebest simplyto applyneulrallabels such as Dimension1 and Dimension2.Ulbellingisnot necessary for interpretation of aMDSanalysis,rather.it maybemoreappropriateto think oflabelling as amethod of communicating a dimensional stru cture.While subjects arenot alwaysable to communicate dimensionallabels,itseemsclear that theycan and do use dimensions.On thebasis of the evidence of this studyand other studies meatlcned,researchersshouldnotfeelit inevitablynecessarytoimposelabels onsubj ects tointerp ret a structure.
Directions for Euhlce Research of ImplicitAttjm";:Dleories Futureresearch shouldcontinuetoinvestigatethe structureof perceived attitudes,specificas well as diver se.For example,thestruc ture ofother attitude domains(e.g. ,health)need s tobestudied, aswellas domains more specificthan the one used in Ute current research (e.g .,attitudes toward homoscxuality ).Ifresearchers continue to observea two-dimensional solutionwithincreasingly restrictive attitude domains,thenthiscouldbetakenasevidence ofafractalstru c ture often observedin thephysicaland biologicalsciences (Briggs&Peal,1990). Thestruc ture of afractal
38 objectissuchthatas onelooks deeperanddoepc:rintoItscomposition,one observeaI self-nmilarityklenticaltothat whichwasinitiallyobserved.
Future avenuesofresearchshould alsoincludethe investiption ofimplicit attitudetheoriesastheyrelatetostereotypes,theeffeeuofageandculturalinfluences CMtimplicit attitudetheories,~eoderdifferences, (acton which impactontheaccuracy ofimplici t attitudetheories,andtheextentofconsciousawarenessonthepartof subjects applyingsuchimplicit theories on the perceivedattitudesofothen. Note,Ibis listisnot exhaustive.
Conclusion
InSUIJ1IJW')'.themainobjective ofthislhcsiswas10lestthetwo-dimensional structureidentifiedbySutton ct aI.(1993)usingamorerestrictedattitud inalset, namelyperceived sexualattitudes. TIleresultsindicatedatwo-dirneruionalJOIution thaiwasevenclearerthanthatoriginallyidentifiedbyButtonetal.andsupportiveof theperceptualprocessidentified by BrunerandTagiuri (19S4) and gencralizedtothe notionof implicit attitude theories.Theresul tswerealsointerpreted asconsistent with thespreadingactivationandheuristicprocessingmodelsofJudd etat.(1991)and Chaiken (1980),respectively.As well,possibleapplicationsofthittypeofresearch werediscussed. LabelUngofthedimensions,however. remainsa challenge forfulure researchand suggestion!foralternative meth od!were provided.
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~294·309.
Sedikides, C.,&Anderson,C. A.(1994).Causal perceptions ofintertrait relations:Theglue thatholdspersontypes together.Personality andSocial fltvcboJogy Bulletin 20 294-302.
Williams, S.S.,Kimble, D.L.Covell, N.H.,Weias.L. H.,Newton, K.J., Fisher,J.D.,&.Fisher,W.A.(1992).College students use impiicit personality theory instead of safer sex.1000ma!ofAppliedSocia!Ps~921·933 .
'3 Frotnotes
'Knowles, Jarvis, and Swr (1990)also designedan automatedsystemto aidin thecollectingof sort datatobeused for purposesof multidimensionalscalinganalysis.
The prognunmedesignedbyButtonetaI.(1993) is capableof sortingdatasetswith nospecified upper limit,whereasthe Knowlesetal.(1990) programmewaslimited10 45objects.
'Regression weightswereusedtorepresenteachof the four scalesbya line through the coordinatespacegeneratedbythe MDS analysis.The objectivewas to find aline through theorigin of the attitudespaceso thatthe projections of the data pointson thisline correlatedashighlyas possiblewiththe scale ratings.For each external scaleananglewas calculatedrelativetothevertical MDSaxis.The differences aacng theanglesindicates thedegreeoforthogonality betweenthescales.
A highangleindicatesgreaterorthogonality.while a smallerangle indicates less orthogonality.The TC3Ultsindicatedthatthe angle betweentheLiberal-Conservative scale andthewarm-Cold scaleWit!58°in Data Set [A]and 38°inDataSet[8].The anglebetween theTraditional-Radical scaleand the Warm-Coldscalewas46°anglein dataset[A]and~1 °anglesin data set [B] The Liberal-Conservalivcand the Tnditiona1~Radicalscaleshadan angle of12°indataset[A] and 12° indataset[B].
44 Appendix A
InstructionS for Writjng Good Anilude Statements
1) Eachitem should be a clear expression of positive or negative attitude toward the social object.
2) One wayto generate attitude items is to think of different arguments (pro and con) on the issue.
3) Each argument can then be converted into a separate attitudestatement.
4) Onany particular issuetryto generate one positively-wordeditem and one negatively-wordeditem.
S) Each attitude itemshouldbeshort, no longerthan IS words.
6) The fewer the words thebetter thestatementislikelyto be. 7) Itshould consist of a single statement.
8) 'Thelanguage shouldbedirect,clear. and simple.Avoid the use of difficult words,aswellas the use of slang.The statement shouldbeworded in the presenttense.
9) The statement should contain only one complete thought. Avoid "double- barrelled- statements,whichcontainbothpositiveand negative thoughts or two separatethoughts.Focexample,universityadmission standards shouldbe raisedtoreduceovercrowding.Therearereally severaldistinctissue"here.
10) Avoid itemswhich contain a doublenegative.For example, homosexu:,}s shouldnotbeallowed to teachstudents whichare notover theage of eighteen, Itisdifficultto work through a double negativestatement.
11) Avoidtheuse of factual statements whichsomeone couldendorse regardless of theiropinion on the issue. Afactualstatementcan usuallybeconverted into a usable item by inserting theword'sho uld 'into thestate ment. For example, most collegesshould haveintercollegiate athleticprograms.
12) Tryto avoid overlap between the items for aparticularissue.
AppendixB Attitude Statement:! CategorizedByIssye
Premaritalsex atanearlyage canleave emotionalscars.
Premaritalsex at an early age is a signof normalcuriosity.
Premarital sex shouldbeuptobothpartners. Premarital sex happens too easily and too often.
Premarital sexis okay undermost circumstances.
Unlimitedpremarital sexualexperienceis fine.
Itis allrighttohave a limited amountof premarital sexual experience.
Sex is permissibleonly within marriage.
Sex before marriageis okay onlyifthe partnersplan to marry each other.
Premaritalsexualintercourseforyoungpeopleis unacceptabletome.
Studentswho do nothave sexual intercoursebefore marriage are strange.
Premarital sexualintercourse is immoral.
Sex beforemarriage is a sin.
Premaritalsexwillspoilthe marriage.
Nobodyexpectstomarry a virgin.
Most youngmenstillconsiderit very importantfor a womentostay a virginuntil marriage.
45
46
Homosexual clergy should notbe permitted topreach.
Homosexual clergyshouldhave the freedomtolive theirlife the way they wish.
Homosexual relationsarejust as acceptableas heterosexualrelations.
Homosexual behaviour isan acceptable variationin sexual preference.
Ithinkhomosexuals need psychological or medical help.
If Iwereahomosexual,I would be careful notto let anyone know.
Homosexuals contribute positivelytosociety.
Homosexuality is disgusting.
Homosexuals are just as moralas heterosexuals.
Homosexuals should haveequalcivil rights.
Homosexuals corrupt young people. Homosexuality is a sin.
Homosexualityshouldbeagainstthe law.
Homosexuersshouldbeisoiatedfrom heterosexuals.
IfI found outone of my friends was a homosexual, ourfriendshipwouldbeseverely damaged.
Homosexual actssho uldbeillegal . Homosexuals should not hold leadershippositions.
Lesbians just can'tfitintoour society.
Lesbians are sick.
Ithinkmalehomosexualsare disgusting.
Male homosexualsshould notbeallowedtoteach school.
I wouldbeupsetifI learnedthatmy son were a homosexual.
The idea of male homosexual marriages seems ridiculous to me.
Homosexual behaviourbetweentwomenis just plain wrong.
Ifa homosexual asked me for adate,I'm within my rights to physically attack that
"""'".
Homosexuals should notbeallowedtoexpresstheir viewsin newspapers and magazines.
Schools should not hire teacherswho areopenlyhomosexual.
Homosexualsarc genetically defective.
An employer should have therighttorefuse employment to homosexuals.
Homosexualsshould be allowed to hold church positions.
Homosexualsshouldbearrested for public displaysof affection.
Sexualpreferenceshouldnotbea factorinemployment opportunities. Homosexualsshouldnotbepermittedtoparticipateinteamsports.
Homosexualsshould notbepermittedtoteach school-age children.
Homosexualityshouldbeconsidered an acceptable way of life.
Homosexualsshould notbeallowed to work in community service activities.
People should notbediscriminated against because they are homosexuals.
Homosexuality is a sicknessof our modemsociety.
47
