The Personal Attribute Inventory: A Report on Normative Data

The Personal Attribute Inventory (2 ) is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing attitudes toward many different individuals or groups. Until n&w, however, normative data have been rather limited to very small samples of 13 to 76 subjects ( 1). In the present study a larger sample rated target groups of greater social relevance to researchers and counselors. In all,1,410 undergraduates who were enrolled in educational psychology classes volunteered to fill out three copies of the inventory, one each labeled yourself, your mother, and your father. The order was counterbalanced. Of the inventory's 50 positive and 50 negative descriptors participants checked 30 which best described the person in question. Scores were the number of negative words checked. Means and standard deviations for the students' evaluations of themselves, their mothers, and their fathers appear by sex of the respondents in Table 1.