A famously flawed scale stayed popular because it conveniently correlated with things

Evidence

One reason researchers continued to use the Dogmatism Scale may have been the impression that, despite all the odds against it, the test magically “worked.” That is, despite its massive shortcomings in construct validity and construction, it produced relationships with relevant or interesting variables. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2571 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The F Scale’s validity sparked a lasting methodological controversy — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 743; A flawed psychological test can stay popular if it correlates with interesting variables. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2571; Unbalanced scales inflate both alphas and empirical correlations. (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• A flawed psychological test can stay popular if it correlates with interesting variables. #corroborates (0.97) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2571