New Left Scale [NLS-61]

Description

The New Left Scale (NLS-61) is a psychometric instrument developed to assess political and social attitudes associated with the ideology of the New Left. It emerged within the social and political context of the 1960s and was intended to capture a broad range of beliefs concerning social change, political institutions, participation, authority, and the organization of society.

The scale was developed in the context of research examining whether attitudes associated with the New Left formed a relatively coherent ideological system.

Aim

The primary aim of the NLS-61 is to provide a quantitative assessment of the extent to which an individual endorses attitudes and beliefs associated with New Left ideology.

The instrument addresses issues such as social and political change, institutional structures, participatory democracy, social justice, individual freedom, political action, attitudes toward authority, and support for reformist or more radical forms of social transformation.

Structure

The NLS-61 consists of 61 statements covering different aspects of political and social ideology.

The content includes attitudes toward:

social and political institutions,

social reform and structural change,

participatory and representative democracy,

political protest and political action,

individual freedom and authority,

the relationship between personal and political life,

and the role of leadership, collective action, and social organization.

Scoring

The 61 statements are rated using a seven-point Likert-type scale, typically ranging from:

1 = Strongly disagree
to
7 = Strongly agree.

The resulting scores are used to indicate the degree of agreement with attitudes represented by the scale.

Because some statements may be formulated in the opposite ideological direction, researchers should verify the original scoring instructions, including any reverse-scored items, before calculating a total score.

Thematic Content

The NLS-61 is not restricted to a single left–right political dimension. Instead, it includes a wider range of themes related to social authority, political participation, institutional change, personal freedom, reform, and radical social action.

This broader structure makes it possible to examine political ideology in greater detail than a simple self-placement on a left–right continuum.

Psychometric Considerations

Early research on the New Left Scale suggested that the attitudes represented by the instrument could form a relatively coherent ideological structure.

Subsequent work also examined the scale’s convergent and discriminant validity, particularly in relation to measures of political conservatism and other ideological attitudes.

As with any historically developed political-attitude scale, psychometric properties should be re-evaluated when the instrument is used in new populations, languages, or contemporary political contexts.

Applications

The NLS-61 may be used in political psychology, social psychology, sociology, and research on political attitudes and ideology.

Potential applications include the study of:

political ideology,

political participation,

attitudes toward social institutions,

social change and political radicalism,

differences between political or social groups,

and changes in political beliefs over time.

Cross-Cultural Use

The use of the NLS-61 in different cultural settings requires particular attention because many of its statements were developed within the specific political and social context of the United States during the 1960s.

The meaning and organization of ideological attitudes may differ across countries and historical periods. Consequently, cultural adaptation should involve more than literal translation and should include examination of the scale’s reliability, validity, and factorial structure in the target population.

Contemporary Methodological Considerations

The NLS-61 should be regarded as a historically situated measure of political attitudes.

Some items may reflect terminology, conflicts, and ideological debates that were especially relevant when the scale was originally developed. Therefore, researchers using the instrument today should carefully evaluate whether the wording and content remain conceptually appropriate for contemporary participants.

Any modernized or translated version should undergo systematic linguistic and cultural adaptation, together with renewed psychometric evaluation.

Conclusions

The New Left Scale [NLS-61] is an extensive instrument designed to assess political and social attitudes historically associated with New Left ideology.

Its 61-item structure allows for a detailed examination of attitudes toward social change, institutions, democracy, political participation, authority, individual freedom, and collective action.

In contemporary research, the scale may be particularly useful both as a measure of political ideology and as a historical instrument reflecting the social and political debates of the period in which it was developed.

References

Christie, R., Friedman, L. N., & Ross, A. (1969). The New Left and its ideology: An exploratory study. Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, 4(Pt. 1), 293–294.

Robinson, J. P., & Shaver, P. R. (1969). Measures of Political Attitudes. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.

Bahr, S. J., & Stauss, J. H. (1972). Convergent and discriminant validity of the New Left Scale and McClosky Conservatism Scale. Pacific Sociological Review, 15(3), 345–353.