Scale Overview
The Sexual Attitude Scale – SAS was developed by Walter W. Hudson, Gerald J. Murphy, Paula S. Nurius (1983). It is designed to measure Liberal versus conservative attitudes toward human sexual expression. The scale is intended for use with English speaking populations aged 12 or older.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 25 items.
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neither agree nor disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly agree.
The scale includes 2 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are summed to produce a total score.
Total scores range from 0 to 100. Interpretation guidelines:
- Liberal attitude toward human sexual expression: 0 – 49
- Conservative attitude toward human sexual expression: 50 – 100
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha = .94.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 7 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.