The Influence of Method Factors on the Relation between Attitudes and Self-Reported Behaviors in the Assessment of Acculturation

Abstract

The role of variation in response scales and measurement methods in the often implicitly assumed attitude-behavior exchangeability in the assessment of acculturation was investigated. Three levels of equivalence of acculturation attitudes and self-reported behaviors were studied: structural equivalence (identity of the internal structure of attitude and behavior), metric equivalence (identity of measurement unit for the two), and scalar equivalence (identity of measurement unit and scale origin). In three studies involving Turkish-Dutch adults a high overall level of structural equivalence was found, implying that acculturation attitudes and behaviors can be conceptualized using a single underlying construct (i.e., acculturation). Metric and scalar equivalence varied across life domains, response scales, and measurement methods: They were higher for the private than for the public domain, for identical than for different response scales, and for the one-statement than for the two-statement measurement method. We concluded that in the assessment of acculturation attitudes and behaviors can only be interchanged in highly restricted conditions.