Political Cynicism (Pinkleton)

What it measures

Five items assess a person's cynicism about politicians and the political system, emphasising loss of touch with constituents, self-interest, and dishonesty.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• Politicians lose touch with people quickly.
• Political candidates are only interested in people's votes, not their opinions.
• Too many politicians only serve themselves or special interests.
• It seems our government is run by a few big interests just out for themselves.
• Politicians lie to the media and the public.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Items drawn primarily from Pinkleton, Austin, and Fortman (1998). Alphas .84 (pretest) and .88 (posttest). Full citation details for 2002 publication not available—verify against original article.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Pinkleton, B. E., Um, N. H., & Austin, E. W. (2002).

Keywords