Measuring Anxiety
A Hermeneutic Analysis of Structures of Meaning in Survey Instruments
Judith Eckert, Kai-Olaf Maiwald
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Anxiety has emerged as a central concept in diagnoses of society. This raises the question of the empirical basis for such diagnoses. Standardised surveys regarding the sense of insecurity are considered particularly significant in this context. A hermeneutic analysis of three survey items addressing anxiety or insecurity suggests that the relevant surveys generate elevated anxiety scores, thereby playing a role in producing the very evidence they aim to measure.
(Osteuropa 7/2026, pp. 45–56)