Morally Debatable Behaviours Scale.
MDBS
Permissiveness toward morally debatable behaviours - how justifiable a person finds acts such as lying, cheating on taxes, accepting a bribe, etc.; typically yields a personal-dishonesty/illegality dimension and a sexual/self-determination dimension
- Length and format
- ~21 (Harding & Phillips); subsets used in the World/European Values Surveys. 10-point justifiability rating (never justifiable - always justifiable) (self-report questionnaire)
- Language versions
- Dozens of languages via WVS/EVS protocols; effectively global coverage
- Licence
- public-domain / open
Licence classification is a research judgement by the catalogue’s authors, not legal advice, and it can be out of date. Confirm terms with the copyright holder or publisher before using an instrument, especially for commercial use.
- Reference
- Harding, S., & Phillips, D. (1986). Contrasting Values in Western Europe. Macmillan. WVS/EVS moral-justifiability items.
More in Values, attitudes, ideology and morality
- PVQ-21 / HVS - Portrait Values Questionnaire - 21 item (ESS Human Values Scale)
21 portraits (Universalism = 3 items; the other 9 values = 2 items each). open with attribution.
- AMI - Ambivalence toward Men Inventory
20 (10 Hostility toward Men + 10 Benevolence toward Men). open with attribution.
- ASI - Ambivalent Sexism Inventory
22 (11 Hostile + 11 Benevolent). open with attribution.
- ATLG - Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale
20 (10 ATL + 10 ATG); ATLG-S short form 10; ATLG-R revised wording. open with attribution.
- AWS - Attitudes Toward Women Scale
55 (original 1972); 25-item (1973); 15-item (1978) short form most used. open with attribution.
- BIDR / PDS - Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding
40 (20 SDE + 20 IM) in BIDR Version 6. mixed.
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