What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore attitudinal neutrality and propose a modification to existing measurement techniques.

May 1, 1972

On the ambivalence-indifference problem in attitude theory and measurement: A suggested modification of the semantic differential technique.

Key Points

The aim is to explore attitudinal neutrality and propose a modification to existing measurement techniques.
Developed a geometrical model distinguishing between total affect, ambivalence, and polarization.
Measured the liking and disliking components of attitudes separately.
Presented reliability and validity data for the proposed model.
A new framework for understanding attitudes was established, allowing separate measurements of ambivalence and polarization.
Validation of the model showed improved accuracy over traditional semantic differential techniques.

Abstract

This article explores the alternate meanings of attitudinal neutrality in the context of the bipolarity-reciprocal antagonism issue. Specifically, it proposes a modification of the semantic differential technique wherein the liking and disliking components of can be separately measured. A geometrical model is developed in which three nondirectional variables (total affect, ambivalence, and polarization) are distinguished from the usual variable. Reliability and validity data are presented, and an application of the model is discussed. In his 1935 review of the general area of theory and research, Gordon Allport concluded that most investigators basically agreed that attitude is a learned predisposition to respond to an object in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner [p. 818J. Furthermore, he suggested that this bipolarity in the direction of an (i.e., the favorable versus unfavorable) was viewed as its most distinctive feature. Thus, he felt that had been conceptualized as a simple unidimensional concept—the evaluative (or affec

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