Attitude Toward Offshore Services (Foreign Worker Enmity)

What it measures

A five-item scale measuring hostile and avoidant attitudes toward foreign service workers, reflecting an active enmity that goes beyond communication difficulty to include social rejection and discriminatory behaviours. Items tap negative stereotyping of foreign accent as intelligence indicator, condescending communication behaviours, approval of mistreating foreign service workers, social exclusion, and call-avoidance behaviour. This subscale captures the most extreme negative attitudinal dimension in the OFFSERVSENT battery.

Response format

Likert (format not specified)

Scale items

• The less a foreigner's accent when speaking English, the smarter he or she is.
• It is necessary to speak louder to people with foreign accents so they understand me.
• When interacting with service providers located in another country, it is okay to tell them that they are taking jobs away from people in my country.
• I would not want to be friends with an overseas service agent.
• I hang-up on service agents with foreign accents.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Two composite reliability estimates: CR = .89 (Sample 1) and CR = .85 (Sample 2) — Thelen, Yoo & Magnini (2011). VALIDITY: Comprehensive validation evidence reported. CONTEXT WARNING: US-specific scale; authors urge extreme caution in applying outside the US. Items reflect discriminatory attitudes and behaviours toward foreign service workers — ethical review considerations apply. Researchers should be aware that this scale measures a construct with clear negative social valence; response validity concerns (social desirability) may affect data quality in non-anonymous collection contexts.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Thelen, Shawn, John B. Yoo, and Vincent P. Magnini (2011). An assessment of the validity of consumer sentiments toward offshoring. Journal of Service Research, 14(4), 380–397.

Keywords