Rethinking Likert

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This article focuses on the social psychologist Rensis Likert and his contributions in studying someone's psychology. Rensis Likert unveiled his eponymous scale in 1932. An early pioneer in the field of social psychology, Likert designed the scale as part of his work in developing procedures for studying people's attitudes, and also introduced the concept of open-ended questions to accompany forced-choice questions. Over the next three decades, Likert formulated and refined his theories about successful organizations, and published a work in 1967, that laid the groundwork for what he termed participative management, or "System 4 management." Not only Likert's scale but his larger ideas were a driving force that informed the eventual creation of 360-degree assessments, also known as multirater instruments.

This article focuses on the social psychologist Rensis Likert and his contributions in studying someone's psychology. Rensis Likert unveiled his eponymous scale in 1932. An early pioneer in the field of social psychology, Likert designed the scale as part of his work in developing procedures for studying people's attitudes, and also introduced the concept of open-ended questions to accompany forced-choice questions. Over the next three decades, Likert formulated and refined his theories about successful organizations, and published a work in 1967, that laid the groundwork for what he termed participative management, or "System 4 management." Not only Likert's scale but his larger ideas were a driving force that informed the eventual creation of 360-degree assessments, also known as multirater instruments.