Psychometric analysis and revision of the Mental Retardation Attitude Inventory.

Psychometric analyses of data from 230 individuals yielded a 29-item four-scale revision of Harth's (1974) original 50-item five-scale summated-rating inventory to measure attitudes toward individuals with mental retardation. Results showed (a) satisfactory item characteristics; (b) adequate reliability and homogeneity for the inventory; (c) support for the four-part multidimensional structure of the inventory; (d) adequate reliability, homogeneity, specificity, and independence of the four scales; and (d) initial support for the validities of the inventory and the four scales. Additional analyses revealed that overall inventory and scale scores were not biased by social desirability responding. The inventory should be useful for the investigation of questions concerning attitudes toward individuals with mental retardation and the relations of these attitudes to mental retardation policies and practices.