The Firearm Implicit Association Test: A Validation Study

Abstract

Firearm violence causes significant public health burden, but there is a lack of research concerning motivations for firearm access despite clear epidemiological risk. Developing robust tools to measure attitudes toward firearms and firearm-related behaviors can improve our ability to conduct firearm violence research. We aimed to develop a feasible and effective tool that could indirectly measure firearm beliefs. A total of 274 undergraduates were recruited from two southern universities and completed an implicit association test (IAT) designed to indirectly assess attitudes toward firearms (Firearm IAT). Participants also completed self-report measures, including Attitude Toward Guns Scale (ATGS) and Gun Beliefs and Behavior Scale (GBBS) to examine explicit attitudes toward firearms. Demographic and firearm-related data were also assessed. The Firearm IAT revealed an association between firearms and negatively valenced words. The Firearm IAT had a good internal consistency and construct validity with a D score that is significantly different from 0 and a reliability score of 0.84. The Firearm IAT showed significant positive correlations with ATGS and GBBS suggesting this measure could serve as an indirect assessment of firearm attitudes.

Declaration of interest

Eric Sah, Annie Asher, Claire Houtsma, and Joseph I. Constans declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm the data that support the findings of this study are openly available on OSF.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Southern Mississippi and Tulane University.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.