Wording Effect Leads to a Controversy over the Construct of the Social Dominance Orientation Scale

作者：Xin, Ziqiang^*; Chi, Liping

来源：The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied , 2010, 144(5): 473-488.

DOI：10.1080/00223980.2010.496672

• construct validity
• scale
• social dominance orientation
• wording effect

Most investigations of individuals' social dominance orientation (SDO) have used the 16-item SDO scale developed by F. Pratto, J. Sidanius, L. M. Stallworth, and B. F. Malle (1994). The scale's authors believed it to be a unidimensional scale, but other researchers have found the scale has 2 or more factors. The present authors proposed a new hypothesis: The controversy of the scale structure was related to the wording effect of the scale. Based on a sample of Americans, Canadians, and Chinese, the present study indicated that what the scale measured was not only 1 trait of SDO, but also a negative-wording effect factor and that the scale structure was invariant across the 3 cultural groups. The existence of a wording effect reminds us to be cautious of the construct validity of the scale and interpretations of results.

• 出版日期2010
• 单位中央财经大学; 中华女子学院