Have you ever wondered if the acceptance you receive in a new country, new school, new work environment, or a new group is real or just a facade in other to respect laid down rules? Well, you are not alone, as psychologists and sociologists have had the same thoughts.
In 1924, Emory S. Borgardus developed the Bogardus Social distance scale to measure the level of willingness, individuals are willing to engage in social relationships with members of different ethnic groups.
In this article, we would define the Borgadus distance scale, its characteristics, some examples, and its advantages.
The Bogardus social distance scale is a psychological testing scale first created or discovered by Emory S. Bogardus in 1924. It was designed to help him measure correctly the level at which individuals are willing to connect with people of other ethnic, racial, or social groups.,without any internal or external pressure.
The perception of an individual’s attitudes toward people of other ethnic or social groups is measured with the Boragdus scale based on social distance.
Here, the level of acceptance, rejection, and exclusion are gauged with the scale using a rating of 0-7 with 0 indicating total agreement and 7 complete rejection.
The Bogardus social distance scale gauges the extent to which people accept other people and measures the level of warmth, hostility intimacy, or indifference between these groups highlighted above.
The Bogardus social distance scale is also referred to as a cumulative scale because any agreement with one item indicates agreement with any number of preceding items, and this makes it a subset of the Guttman scale.
Progressive In Nature
The Bogardus scale is progressive or cumulative because it implies that agreement with any aspect of the scale, means agreement with all.
For example, if you were asked if you are willing to marry someone of Nigerian descent. If you are willing to without any coercion, then you indicate your agreement with a 0 rating which implies total acceptance.
However, this also implies that you are willing to have this person(Nigerian) as your neighbor, a friend, and a citizen of your country,
Quantitative Measurement
The Borgadus distance scale uses a quantitative measurement, specifically a 7-point scale, to track acceptance levels between 2 individuals. A lower rating of 0/1.0 indicates a close level of acceptance and a higher rating suggests rejection.
It Covers a Range of Social Relationships
The scale covers a vast range of social relationships from platonic interactions to neighborly interactions, workplace interactions, and romantic/marriage interactions. It focuses on capturing the different aspects of social distance providing a detailed understanding of an individual’s willingness to engage with particular diverse groups without any external pressure.
Standard Format
The scale maintains a consistent format with a network of survey questions presented logically to survey respondents.
It is Flexible and Can Be Adapted to Diverse Scenarios
While the initial focus of the Borgadus distance scale is on ethnic and racial groups. It can be modified to measure social distance across a vast range of social categories.
The first step to creating a Bogardus distance scale survey is as follows.
Lastly, use a random question order to avoid response patterns evoked by the order in which the questions are asked.
There is a wide array of survey form templates with questions in a standardized format and random order. All that is required is that you sign up or log in to access any of the survey form templates from the templates library.
Edit them to suit your preference, and share them with your target audience via a link, a QR code, or by simply embedding them into your website.
Once the forms are filled and submitted by your respondent, the data analysis feature allows you to have your collected data processed and analyzed in seconds and you have your report of the social distance scale within your target audience.
The Bogardus social distance scale has many applications and they are;
Example response options: 0 – Completely accepting, 3 – Neutral, 7 – Completely rejecting.
Example response options: 0 – Willing, 3 – Neutral, 7 – Unwilling
These are just a few examples and they can be modified to apply to co-workers, friendships, marriage, citizenship, etc.
With the Bogardus distance scale, a lower score indicates a higher proximity/acceptance of the individual or group while a higher score indicates a greater level of reluctance or social distance.
The Borgadus social distance scale is a valuable tool for measuring individuals’ acceptance and perceptions of diverse ethnic groups. It uses a standardized quantitative format of measurement specifically the Likert scale, which uses a rating of 0-7.
This allows for flexibility and a wider application of the scale. Through the scale, researchers are equipped to gain insight into biases that affect inter-group relations and develop policies and interventions that can promote social acceptance and inclusion.
With the use of the Bogardus scale, social gaps can be eliminated and unity can be achieved amongst diverse groups.
With Formplus you can create your Borgadus social distance scale survey, administer it to your target audience, and have the data analyzed in minutes.
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