Development of a short-form scale of public attitudes toward homelessness

This study was designed to develop a brief, reliable, valid scale to more precisely assess public attitudes toward homelessness (acronym PATH), which future researchers can use to more exactly chart changes and correlates of public opinion toward homelessness. A cross-section of 222 adults in New York City responded to a 38-item survey containing PATH and five other brief scales. Analysis of responses found general support for several initial hypotheses including a remarkable diversity of public opinion, ranging from profound sympathy to anger and disgust; and at least some personality basis for PATH. Potential uses of this PATH scale are explored, along with the notion of important distinctions in poverty and homelessness as two increasingly separate forms of social distress (authors).