[java] how to instanceof List<MyType>?

If this can't be wrapped with generics (@Martijn's answer) it's better to pass it without casting to avoid redundant list iteration (checking the first element's type guarantees nothing). We can cast each element in the piece of code where we iterate the list.

Object attVal = jsonMap.get("attName");
List<Object> ls = new ArrayList<>();
if (attVal instanceof List) {
    ls.addAll((List) attVal);
} else {
    ls.add(attVal);
}

// far, far away ;)
for (Object item : ls) {
    if (item instanceof String) {
        System.out.println(item);
    } else {
        throw new RuntimeException("Wrong class ("+item .getClass()+") of "+item );
    }
}