Contemporary German Political Orientation Questionnaire (CGPOQ, S-CGPOQ)

Abstract

The Contemporary German Political Orientation Questionnaire (CGPOQ; Demel et al., 2024) is a culturally tailored instrument designed to measure dimensions of political orientation within German populations. This questionnaire was developed through an initial item generation process that included two questions at the end of a laboratory study at the University of Goettingen, resulting in 47 items. Data were subsequently collected from a German sample. Following factor analysis, the CGPOQ was refined to a 20-item instrument, comprising three primary factors: “Tradition and National Security,” “Gender and Sexuality,” and “Global Thinking.” The development process also led to the proposal of a shorter, 11-item version (S-CGPOQ), with excluded items either having low loadings or redundancy with other items. Both versions of the questionnaire demonstrated acceptable factor structures, reliability, and validity. However, it is noted that the S-CGPOQ is best suited for large samples and should not be used for examining individual scores.

Keywords

Political Orientation; Tradition and National Security; Gender and Sexuality; Global Thinking; Political Ideology; Attitude Measures; National Security; Political Attitudes; Politics; Sex Role Attitudes; Sexuality; Social Issues; World View

Authors

Demel, Ronja; Pooresmaeili, Arezoo; Gagsch, Florian; Spengler, Mareike; Schacht, Anne

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Purpose

The CGPOQ aims to assess specific dimensions of political orientation, including tradition and national security, gender and sexuality, and global thinking, specifically within German populations.

Validity

Convergent and Criterion Validity: The CGPOQ demonstrated good fit when compared with several convergent measures such as self-identification, an older conservatism questionnaire, voting intention, social dominance orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism. It also showed good fit with divergent measures like religiosity and empathy. Furthermore, CGPOQ scores reliably differentiated between various party affiliations, indicating strong criterion validity. For the S-CGPOQ, correlations with convergent and divergent measures were comparable to those of the full scale. The Kruskal-Wallis test for the S-CGPOQ was significant (𝜒2(7) = 94.94, p < .001), further confirming its criterion validity.

Reliability

Internal Consistency:

• CGPOQ: The full 20-item CGPOQ exhibited good internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .91 for the overall scale. Subscale internal consistencies were also good: .89 for “Tradition and National Security,” .85 for “Gender and Sexuality,” and .72 for “Global Thinking.”

• S-CGPOQ: The 11-item S-CGPOQ maintained acceptable internal consistency. The Cronbach’s alpha for the entire short scale was .81. Subscale alphas were .78 for “Tradition and National Security,” .77 for “Gender and Sexuality,” and .66 for “Global Thinking.”

Factor Analysis

Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis:
Through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) adjustments, the final CGPOQ consists of 20 items. The chi-square test was significant (𝜒2 (167) = 556.80, p < .001), and the chi-square ratio indicated a good fit (𝜒2/df = 3.33). The SRMR (Standardized Root Mean Square Residual) was .091, and the RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) was .088. While these values are slightly above the suggested cut-off values for good fit (lower values indicate better fit), they still support the model. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) retained a 3-factor solution, which accounted for 47.15% of the total variance. Item 41 was initially excluded due to skewness in the main sample but was retained in the final EFA after it did not meet the exclusion criterion in a more representative subsample.
A separate CFA was performed for the S-CGPOQ. The model fit values for the short version also indicated an acceptable fit: 𝜒2(41) = 135.992, p < .001, 𝜒2/df = 3.32, SRMR = .081, RMSEA = .087.

Instrument: Contemporary German Political Orientation Questionnaire (CGPOQ)

Test Type: Original
Format: Participants respond to statements on an 11-point percentage scale, ranging from 0% (“completely disagree”) to 100% (“fully agree”).
Language Available: German. English is present in the source material.
Population Group: Human; Male; Female.
Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older), including Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), and Middle Age (40-64 years).
Population Details: Respondents are adult citizens located in Germany.
Test Methodology: Test Validity, Convergent Validity, Criterion Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis.
Number of items: The full measure includes 20 items, while the short version (S-CGPOQ) consists of 11 items.
Factors and Subscales: The questionnaire comprises three main factors: “Tradition and National Security,” “Gender and Sexuality,” and “Global Thinking.”
Instrument Type: Inventory/Questionnaire.
Construct: Political Orientation.
Test Items Available: No data is Available.
Administration Method: Electronic.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifiers:

• Demel, Ronja: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0166-6501

• Pooresmaeili, Arezoo: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4369-8838

• Schacht, Anne: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9471-3842

Affiliation Email Addresses:

• Demel, Ronja: [email protected]

• Pooresmaeili, Arezoo: No data is Available

• Gagsch, Florian: No data is Available

• Spengler, Mareike: No data is Available

• Schacht, Anne: No data is Available

Affiliation:

• Demel, Ronja: University of Goettingen, Department for Cognition, Emotion and Behavior

• Pooresmaeili, Arezoo: European Neuroscience Institute Goettingen, Perception and Cognition Lab

• Gagsch, Florian: University of Goettingen, Department for Cognition, Emotion and Behavior

• Spengler, Mareike: University of Goettingen, Department for Cognition, Emotion and Behavior

• Schacht, Anne: University of Goettingen, Department for Cognition, Emotion and Behavior

Correspondence Address:
Demel, Ronja: University of Goettingen, Department for Cognition, Emotion and Behavior, Göttingen, Germany, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author
Commercial: No
Fee: No
Test Year: 2023

References

Demel, R., Pooresmaeili, A., Gagsch, F., Spengler, M., & Schacht, A. (2024). Beyond bidimensional measures: Introducing a culturally tailored measure of political orientation. Political Psychology, 45(3), 517–535. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12935

Items of the Contemporary German Political Orientation Questionnaire (CGPOQ)

No data is Available