The prejudice against asylum seekers scale: presenting the psychometric properties of a new measure of classical and conditional attitudes.

This paper reports the initial psychometric properties for the recently developed prejudice against asylum seekers scale (PAAS)-a new measure of the classical and conditional components of negative attitudes towards asylum seekers. Across three studies the initial psychometric evidence is presented: An exploratory factor analysis suggested that the 16 items of the PAAS accurately factor onto the two hypothesized subscales (Study 1), which was ratified using a confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2). The presented reliability estimates (internal consistency: Studies 1-3; test-retest reliability: Study 3) verified the stability of the measure. Finally, evidence of the validity for the scale (criterion, construct, and known-groups; Study 2) and for the independent predictive validity of each subscale is presented. In summary, the evidence presented here suggests that the PAAS is a psychometrically sound measure of classical and contemporary prejudice against asylum seekers.