Attitudes & Expectations

Young Adult

In all survey years, the Young Adult survey has collected some information from respondents on their perceived self-esteem, their feelings of control over their own lives, their levels of depression, their risk-taking behavior, their anger levels, their views of the social world, and their basic personality traits. Many of these questions have been used in previous rounds of the main Youth and the Child Self-Administered Surveys. The patterns of administration have varied across rounds based on age and interview status (see Table 3 below).

Table 3. Administration Pattern of Attitude Scales in the Young Adult

Pearlin Mastery Scale

The Pearlin Mastery Scale has been administered to at least some respondents in all survey years. It is a measure of self-concept and references the extent to which individuals perceive themselves in control of forces that significantly impact their lives. It consists of a 7-item scale developed by Pearlin et al. (1981). Each item is a statement regarding the respondent's perception of self, and respondents are asked how strongly they agree or disagree with each statement.  Four response categories are allowed: (1) strongly disagree; (2) disagree; (3) agree; and (4) strongly agree. The scale is constructed by adding together the responses from each item to produce a score ranging from 4 to 16. To obtain a positively oriented scale (that is, a scale where a higher score represents the perception of greater mastery over one's environment), negatively phrased questions should have their response sets reverse coded prior to summation. The Pearlin Mastery Scale has reasonable internal reliability (Seeman, 1991) and good construct validity (Pearlin et al, 1981).

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale has been administered to at least some respondents every survey year. This 10-item scale, designed for adolescents and adults, measures the self-evaluation that an individual makes and customarily maintains. It describes a degree of approval or disapproval toward oneself (Rosenberg, 1965). The scale is short, widely used, and has accumulated evidence of validity and reliability. It contains 10 statements of self-approval and disapproval with which respondents are asked to strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Items A, B, D, F, and G need to be reversed prior to summing the individual items in order for a higher score to designate higher self-esteem. Users should consult the relevant survey year questionnaire for specific wording.  Typically, the raw items are summed or the standardized items are averaged to create a summary score. The scale has proven highly internally consistent, with reliability coefficients that range from .87 (Menaghan, 1990) to .94 (Strocchia-Rivera, 1988), depending on the nature of the sample selected.

Risk Taking

Since its inception in 1994 the Young Adult survey has included a series of questions about attitudes toward risky behaviors and planning for the future. The six ratings of propensity for risk taking ("feelings toward yourself") items were taken from Section F. (Social-Psychology) of the American Teenage Study which contained 25 items intended to create at least three distinct scales. These items, also used in the Child Self-Administered Supplement, are:

• I often get in a jam because I do things without thinking.
• I think that planning takes the fun out of things.
• I have to use a lot of self-control to keep out of trouble.
• I enjoy taking risks.
• I enjoy new and exciting experiences, even if they are a little frightening or unusual.
• Life with no danger in it would be too dull for me.

Depressive Symptoms

The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) measures symptoms of depression, discriminates between clinically depressed individuals and others, and is highly correlated with other depression rating scales (see Radloff 1977; Ross and Mirowsky 1989). A 7-item version of the CES-D has been included in the Young Adult survey every round, although not all respondents are asked the 7 scale items each survey (see Table 2). This 7-item version, as well as the original 20-item version, has also been administered to the NLSY79 respondents. The decision to use only a 7-item version in the Young Adult survey was based on research by Ross and Mirowsky (1989) and others indicating that scales with fewer items are as robust as the 20-item scale. The item response choices in both the NLSY79 and the Young Adult have been kept consistent with the 1992 NLSY79 (and original Radloff, 1977) responses to the full CES-D: 0 (rarely or none of the time/1 day) to 3 (most or all of the time/5-7 days). An additional 4 CES-D items were added in 2010. A discussion of the CES-D items can be found in the discussion of Health.

Anxiety

Beginning in 2018, the Young Adult questionnaire has included the General Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Developed by Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams and Lowe, the GAD-7 asks respondents how often they have experienced certain feelings associated with anxiety in the past two weeks. The items in the GAD-7 are:

• Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge
• Not being able to stop or control worrying
• Worrying too much about different things
• Trouble relaxing
• Being so restless that it is hard to sit still
• Becoming easily annoyed or irritable
• Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen

Respondents indicate how often they have felt this was using the following scale:

• 0: not at all
• 1: several days
• 2: more than half the days
• 3: nearly every day

An anxiety score can be created by summing these seven items. Scores can range from 0 to 21 points, with higher scores indicating greater levels of anxiety.

Anger

A six-item anger scale, developed by Scott Schieman (1999, 2003), was included for the first time in 2008 and continues to be asked of a subset of respondents in each round. Scale item questions ask respondents on how many days in the last week they have:

• Felt annoyed or frustrated
• Felt angry
• Felt very critical of others
• Yelled at someone or something
• Felt rage
• Lost their temper

Resilience

The YA2020 questionnaire included the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Developed by Smith, Dalen, Wiggins, et al., the BRS asks respondents how much they agree or disagree with a series of statements. The items in the BRS are:

1. I tend to bounce back quickly after hard times.
2. I have a hard time making it through stressful events.
3. It does not take me long to recover from a stressful event.
4. It is hard for me to snap back when something bad happens.
5. I usually come through difficult times with little trouble.
6. I tend to take a long time to get over set-backs in my life.

Respondents indicate whether they agree or disagree using the following scale:

5 STRONGLY AGREE
4 AGREE
3 NEUTRAL
2 DISAGREE
1 STRONGLY DISAGREE

A resiliency score can be created by reverse coding items 2, 4, and 6, then summing the six items and dividing by 6. Higher scores indicate greater resiliency.

Personality Traits

The Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) was added to the Attitudes section in 2006. This scale, developed by Gosling, et al., (2003), is a measure of the Big Five personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism). The TIPI consists of 10 pairs of personality traits that the respondents are asked to rate how well describes them on a scale from 1 (Disagree strongly) to 7 (Agree strongly). These pairs are:

• Extraverted, enthusiastic (E)
• Critical, quarrelsome (A, reversed)
• Dependable, self-disciplined (C)
• Anxious, easily upset (N)
• Open to new experiences, complex (O)
• Reserved, quiet (E, reversed)
• Sympathetic, warm (A)
• Disorganized, careless (C, reversed)
• Calm, emotionally stable (N, reversed)
• Conventional, uncreative (O, reversed)

In 2012 and 2014, the Young Adult Survey also included the mini-IPIP (International Personality Item Pool), an alternative measure of the Big Five personality traits. The 20-item mini-IPIP was developed by Donellan, et al, (2006) as an alternative to the 50-item International Personality Item Pool that was particularly amenable to administration in large scale surveys. The mini-IPIP consists of 20 statements, and respondents rate how accurate each statement is for them on a scale from 1 (Very inaccurate) to 5 (Very accurate). These statements are:

• I am the life of the party (E)
• I sympathize with others' feelings (A)
• I get chores done right away (C)
• I have frequent mood swings (N)
• I have a vivid imagination (O)
• I don't talk a lot (E)
• I am not interested in other people's problems (A)
• I often forget to put things back in their proper place (C)
• I am relaxed most of the time (N)
• I am not interested in abstract ideas (O)
• I talk to a lot of different people at parties (E)
• I feel others' emotions (A)
• I like order (C)
• I get upset easily (N)
• I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas (O)
• I keep in the background (E)
• I am not really interested in others (A)
• I make a mess of things (C)
• I seldom feel blue (N)
• I do not have a good imagination (O)

In 2012, those who were not interviewed in 2010 were scheduled to take the TIPI. A random subset (25%) of them were selected to also take the mini-IPIP.  Additionally, a random subset (25%) of those interviewed in 2010 were selected to take both the TIPI and the mini-IPIP. In 2014, a random 12.5% of all respondents interviewed in 2014 were chosen to take both the TIPI and mini-IPIP. This administration pattern allows researchers to compare these two scales.

Gender Roles

In 1994 through 1998, some Young Adults answered questions on women's roles and family attitudes that were also asked of NLSY79 respondents in 1979, 1982, 1987, and 2004. These questions were not administered in the 2000 Young Adult survey; however, they were included in the 2002 questionnaire for Young Adults ages 17-18 or 23 and over. The Women's Roles questions were again skipped in 2004 but were asked of all Young Adults in 2006. In 2008, only those not interviewed in 2006 were asked these items. These were asked of all respondents again in 2010, with the addition of three gender role items taken from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Family and Changing Gender Roles III questionnaire which was administered in 2000 in approximately 35 countries. In 2012, the original set of gender role questions was not asked, but all respondents were asked the new gender role items. In 2014, respondents ages 17 to 20 answered the original set of gender role questions, while all respondents were asked the new gender role items. For the gender role questions, the YA respondent agreed or disagreed with the following statements:

• A woman's place is in the home, not the office or shop.
• A wife who carries out her full family responsibilities doesn't have time for outside employment.
• A working wife feels more useful than one who doesn't hold a job.
• Employment of wives leads to more juvenile delinquency.
• Employment of both parents is necessary to keep up with the high cost of living.
• It is much better for everyone concerned if the man is the achiever outside the home and the woman takes care of the home and family.
• Men should share the work around the house with women, such as doing dishes, cleaning and so forth.
• Women are much happier if they stay at home and take care of their children.

The added ISSP items are:

• Having a job is the best way for a woman to be an independent person.
• People in a committed relationship, either married or living together, are generally happier than people who are not in a committed relationship.
• It is better to be in a bad relationship than in no relationship at all.

Since 2004, the youngest Young Adults (ages 14 to 16) have been asked the gender role items from the Child Self-Administered Supplement (see Gender Role information in the Child section above). One additional item, directed to all YAs, asking about the acceptability for cohabiting couples to have children, was added in 2008.

Political Questions

In 2006, a series of political questions were included at the end of the Young Adult Self Report section (see questions Y19453.00 [YASR-76A] through Y19472.00 [YASR-93]) for all respondents ages 21 and over. In the YA2008, some of the political questions, first fielded in 2006, remained the same while some questions were removed and new ones added (see questions Y22617.00 [YASR-76A] through Y22652.00 [YASR-93]), with some being asked of everyone 18 and over and some asked only of those 21 and over. These political questions were interviewer-administered, even for in-person interviews. Both rounds included a voting behavior question. Party affiliation and political leaning questions remained the same, but some of the attitudinal and behavioral questions were dropped with others added to replace them. The questions concerning mother's and father's politics during childhood were asked of all eligible YAs in 2006, but only of those new to the sequence in 2008. A small subset of these questions was included in the NLSY79 in 2008 (see questions T21839.00 [ATT-POL-77] through T21845.00 [ATT-POL-84]). The sequence of political questions is based on questions from the American National Election Studies (ANES) and were included in our surveys through a grant received by Jon Krosnick and Arthur Lupia.

Discrimination

In 2012, the Young Adult survey introduced several questions about perceived discrimination. One series (Q16-10A through Q16-10J), asked of those 21 and older, is about major instances of discrimination. A second series (Q16-11A through Q16-11K), answered by all respondents, asks about day-to-day discrimination. The discrimination questions were asked in 2014 to those respondents who did not participate in the 2012 survey round. In 2016, 21 and 22 year olds were asked the major discrimination items and those not interviewed in 2014 were asked the day-to-day discrimination items. In 2018, all respondents 21 and older were asked about major discrimination, and all respondents 14 and over were asked about day-to-day discrimination. The discrimination questions were asked in 2020 to those respondents who were not interviewed in the 2018 survey round.

These questions were originally developed by Dr. David Williams, Professor of Public Health, African and African American Studies, and Sociology at Harvard University for the Detroit Area Study. They have since been incorporated into MIDUS and the National Survey of American Life. Research has linked people's perceptions of discrimination to various areas of the later life course including mental and physical health problems and to academic performance.

Knowledge of the World of Work

In survey years 1994, 1996 and 1998, new Young Adults were asked a series of questions based on an abbreviated version of the "Knowledge of the World of Work" scale included in the 1979 round of the NLSY79. This set of questions asks respondents to pick one of three statements that best describes the duties of each of 10 commonly held jobs. A total score can be calculated by awarding one point for each correct answer (Kohen and Breinich, 1975; Parnes and Kohen, 1975; Parnes, et al., 1970). They were also asked a number of items pertaining to hypothetical job offers. Each job offer contained a wage offer as well as a brief description of the job duties, and respondents were asked whether or not they would accept the offer. These two series were removed in the 2000 redesign in order to streamline the survey and accommodate telephone administration. 

Expectations

In each round, first-time Young Adult respondents, ae well as those aged 23 and 24, indicate whether they would like to be married and have a family at age 35. Through 1998, all respondents also indicated whether they would like to be working at age 35. Starting in 2000, the work expectations question was changed to ask the respondent whether they would continue to work if they had enough money to live comfortably at age 35. Finally, in each round all respondents report how many children they expect to have and when they expect to have their first/next child.

Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: The NLSY79 respondents have been asked a number of attitude and expectation questions over time, including many of the same scales as those used in the Young Adult. When the Young Adults were between the ages of 10 and 14, they potentially answered a variety of attitude and expectation questions in the Child Self-Administered Supplement. 

The NLSY97 Youth Questionnaire collects information about the respondents' perceptions of the justice system in each round. The round 1 NLSY97 survey attempted to ascertain the impact that school has had on the feelings of well-being experienced by various youths. Respondents who were enrolled at the time of the survey were asked to agree or disagree with statements regarding their school's environment and their teachers. In round 1 respondents were also asked about their perception of their peers' activities and behaviors.

The Mature Women and Young Women were asked about their attitudes toward working roles. The NLSY97 respondents, the Young Women, and Young Men have all answered questions about their educational and employment expectations for the future; however, the specific questions and reference periods have varied widely. For more precise details about the content of each survey, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide using the tabs above for more information.

References

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Menaghan, Elizabeth G. "The Impact of Occupational and Economic Pressures on Young Mothers' Self-Esteem: Evidence from the NLSY." Presented: Annual Meetings of the Society for the Sociological Study of Social Problems, Washington, D.C., August 9, 1990.

Pearlin, Leonard I.; Lieberman, Morton A.; Menaghan, Elizabeth G.; and Mullan, Joseph T. "The Stress Process." Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 22 (December): 337-353, 1981.

Radloff, L. S. 1977. "The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population." Applied Psychological Measurement, 1 (3), 385-401.

Rosenberg, Morris. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965.

Ross, Catherine E., and John Mirowsky. 1989. "Explaining the Social Patterns of Depression: Control and Problem Solving--Or Support and Talking?" Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30 (June), 206-219.

Schieman, Scott. 1999. "Age and Anger." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 40(3), 273-289.

Schieman, Scott. 2003. "Socioeconomic Status and the Frequency of Anger across the Life Course." 46(2), 207-222.

Seeman TE. 1991. "Personal control and coronary artery disease: How generalized expectancies about control may influence disease risk." Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 35, 661-669.

Smith, B.W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K. et al. The brief resilience scale: Assessing the ability to bounce back. Int. J. Behav. Med. 15, 194–200 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1080/10705500802222972

Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, and Löwe B. 2006. "A Brief Measure for Assessing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The GAD-7." Archives of Internal Medicine 166(10):1092–1097. 

Strocchia-Rivera, Lenore. Self-Esteem and Educational Aspirations as Antecedents of Adolescent Unmarried Motherhood. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, 1988.