The Companion Animal Semantic Differential: Long and Short Form Reliability and Validity

Abstract

The Companion Animal Semantic Differential consists of 18 bipolar semantic differential word pairs for assessing the respondent's perception of a childhood companion animal. The measure was administered by questionnaire to a sample of 188 students. The Cronbach alpha internal reliability coefficient was 0.90 for the 18-item scale. The construct validity of the scale was indicated by its significant correlations with the evaluative factor of the Pet Attitude Scale and the childhood Companion Animal Bonding Scale of .31 and .54, respectively. Factor analysis identified a short 9-item form as a one-dimensional measure of the respondent's affective attitude toward his or her pet. The short form's Cronbach alpha was .88 and its correlations with the affective factors of the Pet Attitude Scale and the childhood Companion Animal Bonding Scales were .24 and .50, respectively. The measure is included.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Baun, M. M. , Bergstrom, N. , Langston, N. F. , and Thomas, L. (1984). Physiological effects of human/companion animal bonding. Nursing Research, 33(3), 126-129.

Bowd, A. D. (1984). Development and validation of a scale of attitudes toward the treatment of animals. EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS, 44, 513-515.

Covert, A. M. , Whiren, A. P. , Keith, J. , and Nelson, C. (1985). Pets, early adolescents, and families. Marriage and Family Review, 8, 95-108.

Hyde, K. R. , Kurdek, L. , and Larson, P. (1983). Relationship between pet ownership and self-esteem, social sensitivity, and interpersonal trust. Psychological Reports, 42, 110.

Kellert, S. R. and Westervelt, M. O. (1983). Historical trends in American animal use and perception. International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems, 42, 133-146.

Levinson, B. M. (1982). The future of research into relationships between people and their animal companions. International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems, 3, 283-294.

Levinson, B. M. (1978). Pets and personality development. Psychological Reports, 42, 1031-1038.

Osgood, C. E. , Suci, G. J. , and Tannenbaum, P. H. (1957). The measurement of meaning. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Piotrowski, C. (1983). Factor structure on the semantic differential as a function of method of analysis. EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT, 43, 283-288.

10.

Poresky, R. H. , Hendrix, C. , Mosier, J. E. , and Samuelson, M. L. (1987). The companion animal bonding scale: Internal reliability and construct validity. Psychological Reports, 60, 743-746.

11.

Robin, M. and ten Bensel, R. (1985). Pets and the socialization of children. Marriage and Family Review, 8, 63-78.

12.

Sherry, D. L. and Piotrowski, C. (1986). Consistency of factor structure on the semantic differential: An analysis of three adult samples. EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS, 46, 263-268.

13.

Temper, D. , Salter, C. , Dickey, S. , Baldwin, R. , and Veleber, D. (1981). The construction of a pet attitude scale. The Psychological Record, 31, 343-348.