Self-generated validity and other effects of measurement on belief, attitude, intention, and behavior.

Abstract

Drawing from recent developments in social cognition, cognitive psychology, and behavioral decision theory, we analyzed when and how the act of measuring beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors affects observed correlations among them. Belief, attitude, or intention can be created by measurement if the measured constructs do not already exist in long-term memory. The responses thus created can have directive effects on answers to other questions that follow in the survey. But even when counterparts to the beliefs, attitudes, and intentions measured already exist in memory, the structure of the survey researcher's questionnaire can affect observed correlations among them. The respondent may use retrieved answers to earlier survey questions as inputs to response generation to later questions. We present a simple theory predicting that an earlier response will be used as a basis for another, subsequent response if the former is accessible and if it is perceived to be more diagnostic than other accessible inputs. We outline the factors that determine both the perceived diagnosticity of a potential input, the likelihood that it will be retrieved, and the likelihood that some alternative (and potentially more diagnostic) inputs will be retrieved. This article examines the effects of measurement operations on revealed correlations among survey measures of belief, attitude, intention, and behavior. The potential reactivity of measurement has long been of concern in psychology. Methodologists (e.g., Campbell & Stanley, 1966; Cook & Campbell, 1979; Runkel & McGrath, 1972) warn of measurement-induced distortions relating to social desirability, evaluation apprehension, and sensitization to experimental treatments. Although it is true that the problem of reactivity of measurement affects work in both the social and physical sciences, in the physical sciences, measurement effects are expressed in terms of substantive theory. For instance, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle links basic

Cites (7)

1. Basic objects in natural categories
   Rosch, Eleanor, Mervis, Carolyn B, Gray, Wayne D, Johnson, David M, Boyes-Braem, Penny · 1976 · Cognitive Psychology
2. Self-Perception Theory
   Bem, Daryl J. · 1972 · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
3. Measurement of job and work involvement
   Kanungo, Rabindra N. · 1982 · Journal of Applied Psychology
4. Is memory schematic
   Alba, Joseph W., Hasher, Lynn · 1983 · Psychological Bulletin
5. Response Sets and Test Validity
   Cronbach, Lee J. · 1946 · Educational and Psychological Measurement
6. Fault trees: sensitivity of estimated failure probabilities to problem representation
   Fischhoff, Baruch, Slovic, Paul, Lichtenstein, Sarah · 1978 · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
7. Retrieval selectivity in memory-based impression judgments.
   Lingle, John H., Ostrom, Thomas M. · 1979 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Show all 7 references

Cited by (49)

1. Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it
   Podsakoff, Philip M., MacKenzie, Scott B., Podsakoff, Nathan P. · 2012 · Annual Review of Psychology
2. Understanding information technology usage: a test of competing models
   Taylor, Shirley, Todd, Peter A. · 1995 · Information Systems Research
3. Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs
   Lindell, Michael K., Whitney, David J. · 2001 · Journal of Applied Psychology
4. Common Method Bias in Marketing: Causes, Mechanisms, and Procedural Remedies
   MacKenzie, Scott B., Podsakoff, Philip M. · 2012 · Journal of Retailing
5. Self-reports: How the questions shape the answers.
   Schwarz, Norbert · 1999 · American Psychologist

See all 2,063