Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale – MAST
A self-report instrument designed to measure adolescents' attitudes toward life and death, specifically focusing on attraction to life, repulsion by life, attraction to death, and repulsion by death.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale – MAST was developed by Israel Orbach, Irit Milstein, Deborah Har-Even, Alan Apter, Shmuel Tiano, & Adolf Elizur (1991). It is designed to measure Attitudes toward life and death (suicidal tendencies). The scale is intended for use with Adolescents and adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 30 items organized into 4 factors/subscales: Attraction to Life, Repulsion by Life, Attraction to Death, Repulsion by Death.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Attraction to Life | 1,5,6,13,18,25,28 | 7 |
| Repulsion by Life | 2,9,14,15,16,21,30 | 7 |
| Attraction to Death | 8,17,19,22,23,26,27 | 7 |
| Repulsion by Death | 3,4,7,10,11,12,20,24,29 | 9 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Don't agree, 3 = Sometimes agree, sometimes disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly agree.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 1 to 5. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low agreement with the dimension: 1 – 2
- Moderate/Neutral agreement with the dimension: 3 – 3
- High agreement with the dimension: 4 – 5
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha ranges from .76 to .83 across subscales.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.