Rokeach’s famous Dogmatism Scale lacked construct validity from its inception

Evidence

Dogmatism has had a long and disappointing career in psychology. The most famous investigation of the subject, by Rokeach (1960), inspired a ton of studies during the 1960s and 1970s. But you would measure the current output in pounds and ounces. For all the studies run and papers published and grants obtained, I believe very little has been learned—though it has been dressed up at times to look like a million bucks. Rokeach’s elaborate conceptualization failed to be represented on the Dogmatism Scale, which had almost minimal levels of internal consistency, and then shot itself in the foot (heart and head) by failing to control for yea-saying. Thus the primary measure had virtually no construct validity, and the die was cast. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2799

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on religious dogmatism scales and their psychometric failures in the psychology of religion.