| Money is a pervasive reality in daily life. Money is recognized throughout the literature as having meanings beyond the merely functional aspect. In view of the importance of money in life and relationships, the need for a therapeutically helpful tool to evaluate attitudes toward money is indicated. A few such instruments exist, but most have been developed from a narrow perspective, and none is generally accepted and widely applied. None of the existing instruments is based on a phenomenological perspective, which perspective seems applicable in measuring individual attitude.; This study followed an outline focused on development of reliable, valid scales. Using both literature and individual graduate student input as a basis, twenty constructs were identified as potentially fruitful for representing meanings of money. Independent of existing scales, 12 items were developed for each construct and submitted to an expert panel for review, to establish face validity, and were pilot-tested on graduate students. Based on these actions the number of items per construct were reduced to eight, and the resulting scale was put forward on an interactive internet web site to reach as wide a population as possible. The results of 143 responses to the scale were statistically evaluated to further reduce the number of items to five per construct, and the revised scale was again made available on the Internet site. Over five hundred valid responses were received and statistically analyzed, resulting in seven constructs. Statistical analysis provided basis for further reducing the number of items to 34 measuring seven constructs. Reliability of the sub-scales was established, and content validity was verified.; The resultant O'Brien ATM Scale provides a tool for measuring attitude toward money in terms of constructs/meanings of flexibility, evil, responsibility, self-esteem, opportunity, well being and confidence. Reliability for sub-scales is demonstrated by statistical means. |
