A measure of positive and negative perception of migration: Development and psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Perception of Immigrants Scale (PANPIS)

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reports the validation and psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Perception of Immigrants Scale (PANPIS)—a new measure to assess positive and negative attitude towards immigrants. Across two studies ( N = 956), the psychometric evidence of the PANPIS is presented. As expected, exploratory factor analysis suggested a two factors and 14‐item structure, which was ratified using a confirmatory factor analysis. Corroboration of the measure's robustness was provided by a multigroup‐CFA, which yielded evidence for the gender invariance of the measure (Study 1). Study 2 showed measurement invariance of the online version with respect to the paper‐and‐pencil version. Reliability, discriminant, and criterion validities were examined across Studies 1 and 2 showing satisfactory results for both paper‐and‐pencil and online versions, respectively. These results suggest that the PANPIS is a psychometrically sound measure having the distinctive characteristic to simultaneously investigate prejudice by capturing both positive and negative attitudes towards immigrants.