Crandi

Development And Validation Of A Measurement Scale For Political

Leo Migdal
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development and validation of a measurement scale for political

We are the leading scholarly society concerned with the research and teaching of political science in Europe, headquartered in the UK with a global membership. Our groups and networks are pushing the boundaries of specialist sub-fields of political science, helping to nurture diversity and inclusivity across the discipline. This unique event has helped tens of thousands of scholars over nearly five decades hone research, grow networks and secure publishing contracts. An engaging platform for discussion, debate and thinking; Europe's largest annual gathering of political scientists from across the globe. A comprehensive programme of cutting-edge qualitative and quantitative methodological training delivered by experts. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Received 2022 Jul 18; Accepted 2023 Apr 19; Collection date 2023. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The authenticity of political candidates receives increasing attention in political and academic discourse. Although being perceived as authentic is seen as a success factor in contemporary political communication, little attention has been paid to how citizens evaluate politicians’ authenticity. The state of research thus lacks a valid instrument to measure citizens’ perceptions of politicians’ authenticity. This article addresses this gap in the literature and proposes a new multidimensional scale of perceived political authenticity.

We conducted three consecutive studies to test the instrument’s composition, performance, and validity and present a final 12-item scale. Results from an expert panel and two online quota surveys (Sample 1: N = 556, Sample 2: N = 1,210) show that citizens rely on three political authenticity dimensions to judge politicians’ authenticity: ordinariness,... Factor analyses were used to establish construct validity and demonstrate that the new scale is a robust and reliable measure. Finally, we find that higher perceived political authenticity for specific politicians is positively associated with party identification and the intention to vote for politicians. The popular image of a good politician held by citizens has changed. This statement captures observations by Clarke et al.

[1] that the notion of good politicians and the criteria to evaluate political candidates among citizens today differ from those of the mid-twentieth century. While citizens were said to desire politicians who are honest, strong, and hard-working, they now also expect candidates to be normal, ordinary, and “in touch with reality” ([1], p. 207). The authors summarize this desire for truthful politicians under the term of authenticity, arguing that citizens increasingly want politicians to be (more) authentic [1,2]. Their conception of authenticity is rather narrow and leaves out many of the concept’s facets, such as genuineness, spontaneity, and showing one’s true self. Yet, their observations indicate a growing relevance of political authenticity among citizens [3,4].

Although it is far from being a new concept in politics [5], authenticity plays an increasingly decisive role in political campaigning and elections [6–10]. Kenny et al. [11], for example, note that scholars and journalists frequently refer to politicians’ authenticity to explain why voters prefer certain candidates over others. Brewer et al. [12] consider authenticity as a key trait in citizens’ candidate judgments, whereas Seifert ([5], p. 209) even discusses the rise of “a new age of authenticity” in politics.

Furthermore, Ceccobelli and Di Gregorio [13] see authenticity as a dimension of a triangle of leadership that explains the popularity and success of contemporary political leaders. Thus, being not perceived as fake but as authentic is an important aspect in voters’ evaluations of political candidates [2] and considered “critical to political success” ([14], p. 318). Recent studies support this assumption and suggest a positive relationship between perceived authenticity and the intention to vote for candidates or their parties [15]. Accordingly, politicians across the political spectrum try to perform the role of authentic candidates [16]. This seems to be especially successful among politicians from populist parties, who are said to have an aura of authenticity due to their roles as political outsiders [7].

Psychology, Industrial and Organizational Years of research conducted into organizational politics has resulted in an expanded understanding of what politics “do” through the investigation of antecedents and outcomes (Lepisto & Pratt, 2012). The literature is somewhat deficient, however, in explaining and measuring what politics “are”. While there are numerous existing measures of organizational politics, the measurement and methodology in this area remains complex due to several issues. The existing literature notes design and measurement (Ferris, Adams, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, & Ammeter, 2002; Nye & Witt, 1993), definitional (Gunn & Chen, 2006; Lepisto & Pratt, 2012), and level of analysis (Dipboye & Foster,... This research expands the existing literature by identifying areas for improvement within the organizational politics field.

Through three studies new items were created and a combination of new and existing items were reviewed and narrowed to create a twenty-six-item, behaviorally based measure of organizational politics. Analyses were conducted to establish and validate the factor structure of the new measure and nomological network relationships were reviewed. Findings show the final measure relates to known correlates of organizational politics as expected, while also providing an opportunity to examine known relationships more broadly at the dimension level due to the expanded construct... Thomas, Amanda, "Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Political Behavior Scale" (2018). Dissertations. 806.

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We Are The Leading Scholarly Society Concerned With The Research

We are the leading scholarly society concerned with the research and teaching of political science in Europe, headquartered in the UK with a global membership. Our groups and networks are pushing the boundaries of specialist sub-fields of political science, helping to nurture diversity and inclusivity across the discipline. This unique event has helped tens of thousands of scholars over nearly fiv...

Received 2022 Jul 18; Accepted 2023 Apr 19; Collection Date

Received 2022 Jul 18; Accepted 2023 Apr 19; Collection date 2023. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The authenticity of political candidates receives increasing attention in political and academic d...

We Conducted Three Consecutive Studies To Test The Instrument’s Composition,

We conducted three consecutive studies to test the instrument’s composition, performance, and validity and present a final 12-item scale. Results from an expert panel and two online quota surveys (Sample 1: N = 556, Sample 2: N = 1,210) show that citizens rely on three political authenticity dimensions to judge politicians’ authenticity: ordinariness,... Factor analyses were used to establish cons...

[1] That The Notion Of Good Politicians And The Criteria

[1] that the notion of good politicians and the criteria to evaluate political candidates among citizens today differ from those of the mid-twentieth century. While citizens were said to desire politicians who are honest, strong, and hard-working, they now also expect candidates to be normal, ordinary, and “in touch with reality” ([1], p. 207). The authors summarize this desire for truthful politi...

Although It Is Far From Being A New Concept In

Although it is far from being a new concept in politics [5], authenticity plays an increasingly decisive role in political campaigning and elections [6–10]. Kenny et al. [11], for example, note that scholars and journalists frequently refer to politicians’ authenticity to explain why voters prefer certain candidates over others. Brewer et al. [12] consider authenticity as a key trait in citizens’ ...