General union attitude: A construct validation

Attitude toward labor unions has become an important variable in many areas of industrial relations research. Unfortunately, measures of general union attitude abound, making it difficult to compare results, and there has been little attempt to examine their construct validity. The present study tested the construct validity of the two most popular scales as well as an instrument developed by the author. The results indicate that the author’s General Union A ttitude scale and Getman et al. ’s (1976) Union Attitude Index are good measures of attitude toward labor unions. Although a popular measure, Uphoff and Dunnette’s (1956) Unionism in General scale was less satisfactory because of its lack of unidimensionality. Some items in the scale represented the power of unions rather than their value.     

Adding insult to injury: development and initial validation of the Partner-Directed Insults Scale

Women who are verbally abused by their intimate male partners suffer serious mental health consequences and often experience physical violence in their relationship. Despite the importance of studying verbal abuse, no previous research has investigated the specific content of the insults men use to derogate their partners. We present the development and initial validation of a new measure designed to assess the specific content of insults used by men against their intimate partners. In a preliminary study, we used feedback from battered women, along with a review of the relevant literature, to identify specific insults for inclusion in the Partner-Directed Insults Scale (PDIS). We administered the PDIS to a sample of United States participants (Study 1) and a sample of New Zealand participants (Study 2), allowing for a cross-national investigation of the specific insults that men use to derogate their partners. The results demonstrate the practical need for such a scale and provide evidence for the discriminant validity of the PDIS by documenting that men's use of insults predicts their use of controlling behaviors and physical violence.     

Women's Critical Responses to Sexually Explicit Material: The Role of Hyperfemininity and Processing Style

Previous research on women's responses to male-targeted sexually explicit material (SEM) suggests that women may be critical toward such content. However, women's critical responses to SEM have not been explained empirically. The present study had two goals: (1) to investigate whether women's critical responses to male-targeted SEM depend on individual differences in gender role orientation (i.e., hyperfemininity) and (2) to explain the effect of hyperfemininity on critical responses to SEM by looking at the way sexual material is processed. In an online experiment among women aged 18 to 30 (N = 195), both the type of SEM (a male- versus female-targeted erotic story) and processing style (stimulus- versus response-focused) were manipulated. In addition, participants were divided into three groups based on low, moderate, or high hyperfemininity. When using stimulus-focused processing (i.e., attending to the characters and situational context of the story), women were more critical toward male-targeted SEM (relative to female-targeted material), but only when they had low and moderate degrees of hyperfemininity.     

The Community Readiness Survey. Development and initial validation

This article reports on the development and evaluation of a mail survey measuring population attitudes toward substance use of potential receptivity of communities to different prevention efforts. The Community Readiness Survey was designed through a series of prevention practitioner and consultant meetings and focus groups. Psychometric evaluation revealed five distinct domains: perception of alcohol, tobacco, or other drug problem; support for prevention; permissive attitudes toward teen substance use; perception of adolescent access; and perception of community commitment. Evidence of construct validity was demonstrated by the small but significant relationships between selected scale scores and community readiness as evaluated by prevention planners.     

The ideologies of U.S. and Canadian IR scholars: A comparative analysis and construct validation

This paper: (1) reports the findings of a 1991 survey of the values and beliefs of U.S. IR scholars and compares these to the findings of a Canadian survey conducted a year earlier and (2) examines the structure, covariates, and construct validity of a scale measuring ideology developed from the Canadian data and incorporated in the U.S. survey. It finds U.S. scholars in general to be slightly more conservative than their Canadian counterparts. However, as in Canada, they evince considerable support for enhanced legal rights and protections for workers, while at the same time supporting the cooperativist schemes associated with the progressive HRM paradigm. This suggests aquid pro quo of sorts: that if workers are to undergo the sacrifices associated with these schemes (e.g., reduced rights under the collective agreement), they should be provided with increased rights under the law. Finally, the measure of ideology developed from the Canadian data is replicated by the U.S. survey; its covariates are also similar; and it conforms to a number of construct validity criteria. I thank Martin Morand and Jack Fiorito for comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Liz Campbell and Peter Stoyko provided research assistance.     

The development and construct validation of a consumer satisfaction questionnaire for psychiatric inpatients.

A consumer satisfaction scale was developed for psychiatric inpatients. The scale was administered to a state-wide sample of (n = 366) patients discharged from acute psychiatric units throughout Missouri. The scale was factor analyzed and given to another sample of (n = 390) discharges. Three out of five factors that were found in the first sample were replicated in a factor analysis of data from the second sample. Acceptable coefficient alphas were obtained on all three factors, demonstrating internal reliability. The three factors were labeled Treatment Effectiveness, Trust of Staff, and Hospital Environment. Comparable levels of satisfaction with prior studies were found on the first general satisfaction factor of Treatment Effectiveness. Subjects discriminated areas of satisfaction by expressing higher levels of dissatisfaction on the factors of Trust of Staff and Hospital Environment.     

Men's sexual coercion in intimate relationships: development and initial validation of the Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships scale

We report the development and initial validation of the Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships Scale (SCIRS), a measure designed to assess the prevalence and severity of sexual coercion in committed intimate relationships. We review existing measures of sexual coercion and discuss their limitations, describe the identification of the SCIRS items, perform a principal components analysis and describe the resulting three components, and present evidence for the convergent and discriminative validity of the SCIRS. Because sexual coercion in intimate relationships often takes the form of subtle tactics, the SCIRS items assess communicative tactics such as hinting and subtle manipulations in addition to tactics such as the use of physical force. The SCIRS provides researchers and clinicians with a valid, reliable, and comprehensive measure with which to study the dynamics of sexual coercion in intimate relationships.     

Extension of the sexual abuse questionnaire to other abuse categories: the initial psychometric validation of the Binghamton Childhood Abuse Screen

Study I represents a follow-up to a recently published study dealing with the initial development of the Sexual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQwas designed to be used to identify individuals experiencing psychological distress resulting from a history of childhood sexual abuse. Using a new data set (N = 2,806), this study utilized item analyses, exploratory factor analyses, and Receiver Operating Characteristics Curves to replicate and expand upon the initial psychometric properties of the SAQ, and to examine the sensitivity of the SAQ to other abuse categories. Findings from Study I indicated that the SAQ was sensitive to other abuse categories and in need of revision. Study II, using a new data set (N = 1,454), provided the initial psychometric evaluation of the newly constructed Binghamton Childhood Abuse Screen (BCAS).     

Health-life agreement: Conceptualization of a new construct and measurement

Health-life agreement (HLA) is the ability to meet demands in three life domains (i.e. work, family, and self) to the level of personal satisfaction without experiencing emotions that can affect the self or the others negatively. In this study, the authors developed a scale to measure the construct of HLA. The results of the k-means cluster analysis revealed four different profiles of HLA (i.e. harmonious, carefree, exhausted, and nonharmonious). The authors found that harmonious people scored highest in positive outcomes (i.e. health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and life satisfaction) and nonharmonious group scored highest in negative outcomes (i.e. turnover intention and aggression in relationships).     

FACES IV and the Circumplex Model: validation study

Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES) IV was developed to tap the full continuum of the cohesion and flexibility dimensions from the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems. Six scales were developed, with two balanced scales and four unbalanced scales designed to tap low and high cohesion (disengaged and enmeshed) and flexibility (rigid and chaotic). The six scales in FACES IV were found to be reliable and valid. High levels of concurrent, construct, and discriminant validity were found and new ratio scores measure the balanced and unbalanced level of cohesion and flexibility. A clinical example on the use of FACES IV scores to assess family dynamics, plan the treatment, and determine the impact of family therapy is provided.     

The development and nature of the construct touch avoidance

Development of two touch-avoidance measures via factor analysis are reported. Touch avoidance is a nonverbal communication predisposition that consists of two dimensions, same-sex touch avoidance and opposite-sex touch avoidance. The results are replicated across two distinct samples with consistent reliability of measurement. Touch avoidance is then related to communication apprehension, self-disclosure, self-esteem, and a series of cultural role variables. The cultural role variables seem to have the greatest relationship with the two measures of touch avoidance. A program for future research on touch avoidance is also discussed.     

The changing sociological construct of the family

Recent attempts to announce the death of the family as a useful analytical category for sociologists are rebutted as being premature. The tendency to view household relations as family relations or, indeed, couple or gender relations as family relations seems to have arisen in the early 1970s. Earlier attempts to construct an empirically grounded analysis of family relationships have been curiously neglected. An account of one family on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent provides some illustrative ethnography on both the positive uses of family members-particularly siblings - and on the way the social boundaries of this family are constructed by its members. It is argued that the family is best understood as a system of relationships that change over time. There is a curious lack of systematic ethnography of contemporary family relationships so that what is taught to students as the sociology of the family may be widely at variance with their own personal experience. This may be partly a result of relying too much on random surveys of households at the expense of detailed explorations of existing patterns of social relationships and social meanings. Developing theoretical arguments on the basis of inadequate or inappropriate ethnography is evidently a dangerous and misleading exercise.     

Dual commitment: Unique construct or epiphenomenon?

Research on dual commitment has been criticized for failing to establish that dual commitment is a unique construct with significant explanatory power beyond that of employer commitment and union commitment. Using data for a sample of shop stewards, this analysis shows that dual commitment does have unique predictive power for steward grievance processing behaviors and grievance procedure outcomes. Consequently, models relating employer commitment (in unionized settings) or union commitment to behaviors or outcomes will be misspecified if they do not include dual commitment as a unique construct, and statistical estimates of these models will be subject to specification bias. This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.     

Validation of the subtle and overt psychological abuse scale: an examination of construct validity

The Subtle and Overt Scale of Psychological Abuse (Marshall, 1999a) is a measure designed to examine previously unevaluated forms of psychological abuse. The scale was originally divided into seven subscales (overt: dominance, indifference, monitoring and discrediting; subtle: undermining, discounting, isolating). A sample of 172 women was used to evaluate the construct validity of this measure. In other words, the internal structure of the measure, its relation to other measures of physical and psychological abuse, and its relationship to other psychological outcomes. Empirical and theoretical approaches were used to replicate and examine the dimensions of this scale. Results revealed that this scale represents a unidimensional construct that is highly correlated to other measures of psychological abuse. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Collective intelligence: Scale development and validation

In today’s growing competition, organizations face shrinking innovation cycles, swelling customer expectations, and distributed talent which impels organizations to apply knowledge, skills, and experience of employees most effectively. Applying collective intelligence, i.e., the combined knowledge and expertise of a diverse group, has become the order of the day. Therefore, collective intelligence level of an individual is of immense importance for high performance and achievement of the goals. In the present research, an attempt is made to operationalize the components of organizational collective intelligence from working professionals. Specifically, an attempt is made to develop a scale to measure collective intelligence among 600 working professionals. The results were subjected to the robust measurement tools such as Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structures Equation Modeling to confirm the factor structure. The instrument resulted in four factors and a 17-item scale. The instrument can be used by the policymakers and human resource managers for selecting, harnessing, and retaining appropriate talent in the organization.     

Needs and beliefs in construct accessibility: Keys to new understanding

In a general-population survey of 390 Ohioans, respondents rated five concepts as to closeness of linkage with osteopathic medicine. As suggested by the storage-bin concept in construct-accessibility theory, those who had experience with these concepts were most apt to use them in assessing osteopathic medicine. This held even though most respondents reported no contact with osteopathy.Also, those satisfied with their health insurance tended more than others to weigh “niceties” such as wellness heavily in assessing osteopathy. At the other extreme, persons without health insurance gave strong emphasis to cost-containment when evaluating this health-care school.     

Understanding pre-service teachers' construct of disability: a metacognitive process

This study identified pre-service teachers' understanding of disability as it relates to students they might teach and people they might meet in public, and determined the development of their understanding. Participants' voices were elicited through semi-structured interviews. Themes uncovered included: (a) many people with disabilities were 'hidden away'; (b) participants were afraid of people with disabilities; (c) participants lacked self-efficacy in teaching people with disabilities; (d) participants believed that people with disabilities lacked the ability to learn the same syllabus as typical students; and (e) participants also felt people with disabilities belonged and had rights in society. Conclusions drawn include the fact that in this Asian context, having a close relative with a disability did not presume that the participants would have a positive outlook on people with disabilities. Furthermore, there is a need for acceptance of people with disabilities in daily life activities, including in schools and other recreational activities.     

Environmental assessment in forestry: the initial experience

This study analyses the effectiveness of the European Community's Environmental Assessment Directive of 1985 in its application in the U.K. forestry sector. It assesses the applicability of the regulations in the provision of the public and private outputs of forestry. The environmental assessment regulation may contribute to the provision of the optimal amount of these public and private goods in theory, but it is concluded that, in common with initial results of the environmental assessment process in other sectors, the regulations do not make this contribution in practice in the forestry sector. The main deficiencies of the environmental statements examined were the failure to identify the significant potential impacts; to present alternative project sites and design features; and the erroneous measure of particular externalities. The environmental assessment process was also found to be unsatisfactory in the lack of public accessibility and consultation. The need for revision of the process in the forestry sector is highlighted.