Desire for Certainty Test
Brim 1955
1. The chances that an adult American male will earn at least $4000 a year are about…. in 100.
2. The chances that a student entering law school will quit before getting his law degree are about…. in 100.
3. ___________ frequent thumb sucking during childhood will make teeth stick out (cause buck teeth) ___________.
4. ___________ the president of the United States will be a man without a college education___________.
5. ___________ a major league baseball team will win the pennant if it is in first place July 4th ___________.
6. ___________ a sexual pervert will have a low intelligence (IQ 80 or less) ___________.
7. ___________ a high school graduate will go on to a freshman year in college ___________.
8. ___________ a couple getting married this year will later have divorce ___________.
9. ___________ an American male now at the age of 40 will live beyond the age of 55 ___________.
10.___________ an American family will live in a place without a telephone___________.
11.___________ an American family will own its own home ___________.
12.___________ the telephone number you call will be busy___________.
13.___________ an American citizen will believe in God ___________.
14.___________ a varsity football player in an American university will be subsidized (given money for his football ability) ___________.
15.___________ an American city of over 50‚000 people will have a chapter of the League of Women Voters ___________.
16.___________ the governor of a state will be elected for a second term in office ___________.
17.___________ a son will go in to the same kind of work as his father ___________.
18.___________ a man 70 years old will need financial help from someone to support himself ___________.
19.___________ spanking a child will make him tell the truth next time ___________
20.___________ an American-born baby will get a poor and inadequate diet during his first year of life ___________.
21.___________ an adult male will stay home instead of going to church on Sunday ___________.
22.___________ a sixth grade teacher in the public schools will be a man ___________.
23.___________ a child whose parents are divorced will be neurotic ___________.
24.___________ in the United States that a girl will be married before the age of 17___________.
25.___________ a world’s champion boxer comes from a poor family ___________.
26.___________ an American citizen will be bilingual (speak two languages) ___________
27.___________ a five card deal will have two cards of the same kind (one pair) __________.
28.___________ a man with a broken neck will die ___________.
29.___________ a crime in the United States will be solved (someone arrested and convicted for it) ___________.
30.___________ the number of auto accidents in a year will be higher than for the year just before ___________.
31.___________ a small business (for examples‚ gas station‚ motel) will fail within 2 years after starting ___________.
32.___________ the person one marries will have the same religion___________.
education‚ recreation ‚ politics‚ economics‚ religion‚ health‚ family‚ transportation and communication.
1 (very sure) to 5 (not sure at all)
This instrument can be found at: https://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/dis/infoserv/isrpub/pdf/Measuresofsocialpsychologicalattitudes_2928_.PDF
Brim‚ O.G.‚ Jr. (1955). Attitude content – intensity and probability expectations. American Sociological Review‚ 20‚ 68-76.
Brim‚ O. G.‚ Jr.‚ & Hoff‚ D. B. (1957). Individual and situational differences in desire for certainty. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology‚ 54(2)‚ 225-229.
Robinson‚ John P.‚ Shaver‚ Phillip R. (1969). Measures of Political Attitudes. Institute for Social Research‚ University of Michigan/. Ann Arbor‚ Michigan