A Short-form Test of Cynicism

Papers concerned with an extensive study of cynicism and idealism have been given before the Iowa Academy of Science at several previous meetings. Since descriptions of the project along with statistical analyses have already been given, these will not receive detailed consideration here. Tests measuring cynicism and idealism would constitute a contribution to the study of certain phases of personality which have received very little consideration up to the present time. The original investigation made use of a test involving 200 items and this report describes a reduction to a short form by means of certain rational statistical procedures. The reduction was made wholly on the basis of the cynical scores of 400 subjects (270 women and 130 men). Idealistic scores are to be given separate treatment since the correlations between the cynical and idealistic scores are low enough (-0.608 for women and -0.642 for men) to suggest that the two characteristics are not always mutually exclusive and quantitatively opposite to each other. In other words, with such correlations it is possible for the same subject to show, for example, considerable cynicism and also considerable idealism at the same time.