An Annual Quantitative Index of American Social, Economic, and Political Threats and Stressors for 1920–1986

Abstract

In 1990 McCann and Stewin developed a quantitative American social, economic, and political threat (SEPT) index based on the judgements of 196 historians, who were asked to rate each of the years from 1920 to 1986 on a 7-point scale according to the degree to which they felt it could be perceived as threatening to the established order and way of life in the United States. Interrater reliability was high, test-retest reliability was adequate, and validity was shown through significant correlations with threat indicators such as the unemployment rate, suicide rate, number of active military personnel, and stock price fluctuations. Studies involving threat were also replicated and extended using the ratings. The SEPT index, a “pseudo-archival” instrument, seems useful for testing hypotheses derived from theories in which threats and stressors play a part. To facilitate research, the yearly values are tabled here for the first time.