VALIDATIONS IN COMMUNICATIVE BEHAVIOR OF ATTITUDE-SCALE MEASURES OF DOGMATISM.

A series of four studies conducted with a population of 505 persons enrolled in 33 sections of speech-skills courses was designed to determine whether persons who scored relatively high and relatively low on attitude-scale measures of dogmatism could be accurately identified on the basis of their communicative behavior by observers of that behavior. The Rokeach Dogmatism Scale and other open-mindedness scales developed by the authors were the paper-and-pencil instruments used. A variety of communicative situations were employed as the basis for observer judgments, including impromptu speeches on controversial topics, written commentaries on the religious issue in the 1960 presidential election, and verbal interaction during an entire school quarter. Communicative behavior was rated by panels of judges or by peers. Results in all studies indicated that it was possible, with a modest but statistically significant degree of assurance, for observers to predict subjects' scores on dogmatism scales from their communicative behavior. In other words, the dogmatism scales used in these studies received some behavioral validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]