This blog post will go over two Attitude Scales as they relate to COMM 333, Persuasion. The first scale analyzed will be the Likert Scale and the second will be the Visually Oriented Scale. The Likert scale is, as noted in our text Persuasion, Social Influence, and Compliance Gaining, a “series of statements about some attitude object, followed by a continuum of choices ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” (Gass & Seiter, 2014, p. 107). An example of the Likert Scale would be a customer satisfaction survey at the end of a transaction in the grocery store. The Visually Oriented Scale is explained in our text as a scall that is “easier for respondents to conceptualize their attitudes,” and provide “expressions represent different degrees of favor or disfavor toward the attitude object, ranging from smiling to frowning” (Gass & Seiter, 2014, p. 107-108). A great example of the Visually Oriented Scale would be a doctor asking you to view a board that includes a range of faces started with a crying face leading to a happy face and asking you to chose within the series of faces which face correlates to your current pain level.
When using the Likert Scale, a major benefit is the ease in contrast, administration, and specialization of the survey. While the response types of fairly standard, the amount of questions that can be aligned with the responses to be asked are almost limitless. Using this type of scale in areas where responses are desired, though in an environment where there isn’t much to allotted for someone to provide response, is very beneficial to still to measure attitude. Though a great resource in measuring attitudes, because the scale is limited in response types it is difficult to receive a true representation of respondent’s authentic attitudes.
The Visually Oriented Scale is a great scale to use to measure attitudes in areas where there are language barriers. A great example of this would be in border control or airport environments where individuals of various languages interact. In moments where question or surveying is required, presenting a survey, questionnaire, etc. in the form of the Visually Oriented Scale is accessible to all parties involved and a way to communicate. However, a flaw in this approach is that in can be insulting to intelligence levels depending on the presentation of the scale.
When analyzing the Likert Scale, as it relates to the Elaboration Likelihood Method and the Theory of Reasoned Action, it’s possible that responses to the scale could be shifted to a more enduring or resistant result depending on the experience of the respondent and the way that they process their experience. Should a respondent process under a peripheral path, their responses would be more leaning to a behavior in favor of a long-term response; whereas, a respondent under a central route will have had more consideration into the answers/responses.
Thinking beyond the research has brought me to understand how strategic an attitude assessment can be when viewing the many factors that go into it: the experience, type of survey, response types, ELM/TRA, etc. Being presented with an attitude assessment in the future will bring me to reflect on this assignment and attempt to approach it with a more central approach as to authentically reflect on the experience as it relates to the scale/survey/questionnaire. The Elaboration Likelihood Method, in my reflection of this assignment, can be incorporated into many life decisions with either viewing things for what they are or what I want them to become where I then act accordingly.
References:
Gass, Robert H., Seiter, John S.. (2014). Persuasion : social influence and compliance gaining (5th ed.). Essex: Pearson
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