Revised Attitudes Towards Violence Scale (RATS)
A self-report instrument designed to assess attitudes toward violence across multiple domains, including interpersonal, societal, and institutional contexts.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Revised Attitudes Towards Violence Scale (RATS) was developed by Anderson, C. A., Benjamin, A. J., Wood, P. K., & Bonacci, A. M. (2006). It is designed to measure Attitudes towards violence. The scale is intended for use with Adolescents, college students, and adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 39 items organized into 3 factors/subscales: Acceptance of Violence, Justification of Violence, Aggression.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptance of Violence | 3,9,13,17,18,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,32,33,35,36,38,39 | 20 |
| Justification of Violence | 1,2,5,7,11,12,20,21,31,34,37 | 11 |
| Aggression | 4,6,8,10,14,15,16,19 | 8 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree).
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 39 to 195. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low acceptance of violence: 39 – 78
- Moderate acceptance of violence: 79 – 117
- High acceptance of violence: 118 – 156
- Very high acceptance of violence: 157 – 195
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Good reliability and validity.
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.