Abstract:

Abstract：To what extent are the public’s views on abstract political and social issues stable and reliable? This question concerns both the reliability of social survey methods and the stability of the foundation of public opinion. Analysis of the“China Family Panel Studies”and  the“College Student Attitude Tracking Survey”has found that attitudes measured through questionnaire surveys are indeed not stable enough at both the aggregate and individual levels, but college students’attitudes are more stable than those of the general public. At the same time, attitude changes at the respondent aggregate level show clear structural characteristics: attitudes on specific social issues are more likely to change than those related to personality-cognition and fundamental values. Correlation analyses between different variables reveal that at the individual level, there exists a

correlation between changes in individual attitudes and psychological traits such as authoritarian personality, cognitive closure, political stance. Therefore, the instability of public social attitudes cannot be simply attributed to measurement errors, but requires more systematic research. Future studies need to analyze general factors affecting attitude formation and change, and explore the relationship between changes in the social and political attitudes of Chinese people and the country’s specific national conditions, institutions, and culture.

Key words: social and political attitudes, questionnaire survey, attitude change, measurement errors, cognitive psychology