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Measuring Attitudes Toward

Violence in Colombia
a

Luis Velez , Alfred McAlister & Shaohua Hu

a

CISALVA, University of Valle Cali, Colombia

World Health Organization Collaborating Center

for Health Promotion Research and Development,
School of Public Health University of Texas-Houston
Health Science Center
Version of record first published: 02 Apr 2010.

To cite this article: Luis Velez , Alfred McAlister & Shaohua Hu (1997): Measuring
Attitudes Toward Violence in Colombia, The Journal of Social Psychology, 137:4,
533-534
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224549709595472

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The Journal of Social Psychology. 1997, 137(4), 533-534

Measuring Attitudes Toward

Violence in Colombia

Downloaded by [LSE Library] at 06:33 15 April 2013

LUIS VELEZ
CISALVA, University of Valle
Cali, Colombia
ALFRED McALISTER
SHAOHUA HU
World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Health Promotion
Research and Development, School of Public Health
University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center
RESEARCHERS HAVE BEGUN to identify social attitudes that may be responsible for cultural variations in rates of violence (Cohen & Nisbett, 1994). Important factors probably include approval of the use of extralegal violence to redress
grievances, as well as intentions (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977) and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1995) for use of legal methods for resolving conflicts. To develop ways of
measuring these concepts in international studies, we conducted the present
study, testing an instrument in Colombia, where rates of violence are very high
and attitudes supporting violence are likely to be prevalent (Guerrero, 1993).
The instrument was based on items previously used by (a) Blumenthal, Kahn,
Andrews, and Head (1972), (b) the National Opinion Research Council (1994), and
(c) Cohen and Nisbett (1994). Items measuring intentions and self-efficacy were
based on question formats concerned with condom use in HIV-prevention studies
of diverse U.S. populations (Fishbein & Rhodes, 1997). The approval items were
in the following format: Would you approve of (violent act)? (If no) Would you at
least understand? This format yielded three values for each item (3 = approve, 2
= understand, 1 = neither). The intentiodself-efficacy items were in the following
format: If (conflict situation), would you be able to (nonviolent resolution)? (If
yes or no) Are you sure? Scores for each item were assigned as follows: 2 = yes,
sure; 1 = yes, not sure; 0 = dont know; -1 = no, not sure; -2 = no, sure. All scale
scores were calculated by summing the values for each item. This instrument,
which also included items concerned with other areas of violence, was tested in a
random sample of 98 (48 men and 50 women) respondents in Bogota and Cali in
Address correspondence to Alfred McAlistel; World Health Organization Collaborating
Center for Health Promotion Research and Development, School of Public Health, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Centel; PO. Box 20186, Houston, TX 77225.
533

Downloaded by [LSE Library] at 06:33 15 April 2013

534

The Journal of Social Psychology

early 1995. Standard household probability sampling and home-interview methods

were used by the Bogota-based polling firm that conducted the study.
Item analyses were carried out for responses to questions about approval of
different forms of violence, perceived normative support for use of the legal system, and intentions and self-efficacy or ability expectations about using the legal
system. We included calculations of alpha coefficients for the scales, as well as
item discrimination coefficients and mean values for each question. After the
scales had been established, we calculated correlations between them.
Scales were constructed by eliminating all items with discrimination coefficients below .30. For each scale, four or five items met this criterion, with resultant alpha coefficients acceptably high for violence approval (.76) and nonviolent
intentions (.79), and at the borderline of acceptability for nonviolent self-efficacy (.64). The approval attitude items involved the following situations: private
military deciding someone must be eliminated, killing of undesirable neighbor,
social cleansing by vigilantes, and killing rapist of wife or child. Nonviolent conflict resolutions included use of lawsuits, mediation centers, reports to police,
and peaceful protests. The correlation ( N = 77 cases with complete data) between
nonviolent intentions and self-efficacy was .61 (p < .Ol), confirming the importance of perceived abilities in determining performance of learned behaviors
(Bandura, 1995). It is somewhat surprising that the correlations between
approval of violence and nonviolent intentions (.06) and self-efficacy (.07) were
only weakly negative and not significant. These findings suggest that approval
and disapproval of violence by others may not be predictive of personal choices
about how to resolve conflicts. Further research is clearly needed.
REFERENCES
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and
review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 888-91 8.
Bandura, A. (1995). Selfeflcacy. The exercise of control. New York: Freeman Press.
Blumenthal, M. D., Kahn, R. L., Andrews, F. M., & Head, K. B. (1972). Justzfying violence: Attitudes of American men. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
Cohen, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1994). Self-protection and the culture of honor: Explaining
Southern violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(5), 55 1-567.
Fishbein, M., & Rhodes, F. (1997). Using behavioral theory in HIV prevention. In N. H.
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Guerreio, R. ( 1 993). Calis innovative approach to urban violence. The Urban Age, 1(4),
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National Opinion Research Council, University of Chicago. (1 994). General social surveys cumulative codebook 1972-1994 (part of the National Data Program for the
Social Sciences, 1994). Distributed by the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Received May 6, 1996