The prejudice against asylum seekers scale: presenting the psychometric properties of a new measure of classical and conditional attitudes

This paper reports the initial psychometric properties for the recently developed prejudice against asylum seekers scale (PAAS)—a new measure of the classical and conditional components of negative attitudes towards asylum seekers. Across three studies the initial psychometric evidence is presented: An exploratory factor analysis suggested that the 16 items of the PAAS accurately factor onto the two hypothesized subscales (Study 1), which was ratified using a confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2). The presented reliability estimates (internal consistency: Studies 1–3; test-retest reliability: Study 3) verified the stability of the measure. Finally, evidence of the validity for the scale (criterion, construct, and known-groups; Study 2) and for the independent predictive validity of each subscale is presented. In summary, the evidence presented here suggests that the PAAS is a psychometrically sound measure of classical and contemporary prejudice against asylum seekers