Development of a general internet attitude scale

Abstract

This paper presents findings on the recently developed General Internet Attitude Scale (GIAS). Fundamental aspects of attitude in Social Psychological literature outlining appropriate definitions and theoretical frameworks are first presented. Previous issues in Internet attitude research are then reviewed with a focus on the validity of such proposed scales as measurement of attitude. The consideration of such issues in the development of the new attitude scale is then outlined, and the development process of the GIAS is summarized. Although studies with GIAS found difference between age groups, the effect sizes for differences between the genders were extremely small. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.