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Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA)

The Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA) is an instrument to assess adolescents' attitudes toward women and gender-related roles based on the short form of the Spence-Helmreich Attitudes Toward Women Scale.

Developed by:

Nancy L. Galambos and Anne C. Petersen (The Pennsylvania State University) Maryse Richards (Loyola University) Idy B. Gitelson (The MacArthur Foundation)

Measure domains:

N/A

Items and subscales:

12 items

Outcomes predicted:

Girl's self-image and self-esteem Attitudes toward division of labor

Cronbach's alpha:

"Range from 0.62 to 0.86

Average for boys = 0.78
Average for girls = 0.72"

Study population(s):

"Multiple samples of U.S. adolescents:

Three samples of rural and suburban high school students and two cohorts of sixth to eighth grade students"

Additional information:

Validity assessed using existing measures:

Bem Sex-role Inventory

Offer Self-Image Questionnaire

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Measure validated?:

Y

Link(s) to Validation Study and/or Measure:

Uses in Other Studies:

Jaruseviciene, L., De Meyer, S., Decat, P., Zaborskis, A., Degomme, O., Rojas, M.,
Hagens, A., Auquilla, S., Vega, N., Gorter, B.,Orozco, M., & Lazarus, J. V. (2014). Factorial validation of the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA) in assessing sexual behaviour patterns in Bolivian and Ecuadorian adolescents. Glob Health Action, 7, 23126. doi:10.3402/gha.v7.23126

Citation of original article

Get citation
Galambos, N. L., Petersen, A. C., Richards, M., & Gitelson, I. B. (1985). The Attitudes Toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA): A study of reliability and validity. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 13(5-6), 343-356.