Description
The Wright et al. (1997) article on the extended contact effect introduced the GES as a means of tapping out-
group attitudes. A semantic differential scale, the GES consists of six bipolar adjective pairs. These items are pre-
sented on opposite ends of two anchors (e.g., 1 5negative to 75positive ). Thus, the GES is a measure of
intergroup attitudes that captures both the valence and extremity of the attitude (for instance, taking the above
negative-positive example, a score of 2 represents a more negative attitude than does a score of 4). Furthermore,
the GES is approximately balanced containing both positively and negatively directed adjective pairs.
In addition to considering the full six-item GES, we will also investigate the reliability and validity evidence
for a shorter, four-item version of the GES ( Swart et al., 2011 ). The Swart et al. short-form version used a 5-point
rating scale. For both the full and short-form versions, higher scores indicate more favorable attitudes.
Sample
The GES scale was first used on three American undergraduate samples ( Wright et al., 1997 , Studies 1 and 2).
Study 1 ascertained the attitudes of 125 White Americans towards minority groups. The mean GES scores for this
study ranged from 3.79 to 4.07 (no standard deviations were reported). In Study 2, Wright and colleagues used
the GES with a second White American sample ( N5132) and a minority American sample ( N5120); the latter
sample included Asian American, African American, and Latino/Latina respondents (means not reported). In a
three-wave longitudinal study with six months separating measurement occasions, Swart et al. (2011) used a
four-item adaptation of the GES to ascertain the attitudes of N5465 mixed-race South African high school stu-
dents (Time 1: Mage514.69 years, SD51.07) towards White South Africans. In their study, the mean GES scores
were reported as Time 1: M53.86 ( SD50.76); Time 2: M53.61 ( SD50.90); Time 3: M53.77 ( SD50.84).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Wright et al. (1997, Study 1) reported a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .90. Other studies have reported
Cronbach alphas that range from .68 ( Stone & Crisp, 2007 , Study 2) to .91 ( Eller & Abrams, 2004 ).
While Wright et al. (1997, Study 2) did not report Cronbach alpha coefficients for their minority sample, Eller,
Abrams, and Zimmermann (2011) reported good GES internal consistency results based on a sample of interna-
tional students studying in the UK (.79 #α#.82). Similarly, Swart et al.’s (2011) shortened version proved
internally consistent in a sample of mixed-race South African students (.68 #α#.73)
The GES has exhibited Cronbach alpha coefficients over time frames of two weeks (Time 1: α5.79, Time 2
α5.78,Eller & Abrams, 2003 ); 12 weeks (Time 1: α5.80, Time 2: α5.81,Go´mez, Eller, & Va ´zquez, 2013 ); six
months (Time 1: α5.82, Time 2: α5.88,Eller & Abrams, 2004 ); and one year (Time 1: α5.79, Time 2: α5.82,
Eller et al., 2011 ).9The Swart et al. (2011) short-form GES showed adequate six-month alpha coefficients (Time 1:
α5.68, Time 2: α5.68, Time 3: α573).
While internally consistent among student samples (e.g., Mage521.52, SD52.92, α5.90,Tausch, Hewstone
et al., 2007 ), the full GES has also been shown to be internally consistent amongst elementary school (e.g.,
Mage513.6 years, α5.91,Turner et al., 2007a , Study 3), high school (e.g., Mage516.5 years, SD50.60, α$.80,
Go´mez et al., 2013 ), and retired adult (e.g., Mage574.81 years, SD57.43, α589,Abrams, Eller, & Bryant, 2006 )
samples.
Test/C0Retest
Although the full six-item GES has been used in numerous longitudinal studies (see Eller & Abrams, 2003,
2004 ;Eller et al., 2011 ;Go´mez et al., 2013 ), no test /C0retest correlations have been reported. For the short-form ver-
sion, however, Swart et al. (2011) reported six-month stability coefficients ranging from r5.13 (time 1 to 2) to
r5.32 (time 2 to 3); the one-year stability coefficients ( r5.37).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Eller and Abrams (2004) reported significant correlation coefficients between GES ratings of French people and
Algerians ( r5.45, Study 1), as well as between GES ratings of Americans and Canadians ( r5.30, Study 2).
9Wright et al. (1997, Study 3) assessed outgroup attitudes at three time points spaced approximately two hours apart using an eight-item
version of the GES, which showed good to excellent reliability (Time 1: α5.94, Time 2: α5.85, Time 3: α5.93).677 MODERATORS OF THE INTERGROUP CONTACT TO OUTGROUP ATTITUDES RELATIONSHIP
VI. SOCIOCULTURAL INTERACTION AND CONFLICT