Measuring Dimensions of Belief by Unidimensional Unfolding

✍ Scribed by Joel Michell

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 824 KB
• Volume: 38
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-2496
• DOI: 10.1006/jmps.1994.1016

✦ Synopsis

The hypothesis that attitudes are measurable entails that differences between distinct attitudes on the same dimension are quintitative. This hypothesis may be tested on unidimensional sets of attitude statements using Coombs' theory of unidimensional unfolding. This theory divides into two parts: an ordinal part (explaining unilateral preference judgments on the basis of stimulus order); and a quantitative part (explaining bilateral preference judgments on the basis of distance). The data presented show that the quantitative part of Coombs' theory is as well supported as the ordinal part and it is further suggested that the distance relations uncovered by unfolding are closely associated with structural features of the predicaltes used. is 1994 Aeartemic Press. Iwe.