Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of Varying Response Formats on Self-ratings of Life-Satisfaction

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A sample of 1,737 volunteering students, randomly assigned to 12 conditions, rated their current overall (dis)satisfaction with life. Each condition used 1 of 12 response formats, differing in (1) polarity (bipolar versus unipolar), (2) orientation (horizontal versus vertical), and (3) anchoring (−5 to +5, Not Numbered, and 0 to 10). Results For satisfaction ratings, a negative skew was found for all response formats, but, a higher percentage of respondents scored in the upper part (Midpoint to top) of the scale with anchor points (−5 to +5) than on the scales with other anchor points (Not Numbered and 0 to 10). Our results indicate that, satisfaction ratings obtained with either a unipolar or a bipolar response scale were similar, but, participants experienced some difficulty in rating life dissatisfaction using the bipolar dissatisfaction–satisfaction response scale. Moreover, this study has found that life satisfaction and dissatisfaction show a reciprocal relation, especially when assessed with two independent unipolar rating scales. These results support the inclusion of one-way unipolar response scales in the assessment of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Conclusion Our results suggest that the type of response format may influence both satisfaction and dissatisfaction ratings as well as the relationships between these two constructs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. All scores obtained from the 12 discerned response formats were rescaled to a 0 to 100 basis according to Percentage of Scale Maximum scores (%SM) to facilitate their manipulations. This procedure standardizes data onto a 0–100 scale (Cummins 1995). We computed the %SM using following formula: \( \% SM\, = \,\frac{{s - m}}{{M - m}}\, \times \,100 \). In this formula, s is denotes the score selected from a scale interval [m,M], and, m is the minimum and M is the maximum score on the scale. %SM scores have been calculated for all satisfaction and dissatisfaction measures obtained from different response formats.

References

  • Amoco, T., & Friedman, H. H. (2001). Do numeric values influence subjects’ responses to rating scale? Journal of International Marketing and Marketing Research, 26, 41–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, F. M., & Withey, S. B. (1976). Social indicators of well-being: Americans’ perceptions of life quality. New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradburn, N. (1969). The structure of psychological well being. Chicago, IL: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breivik, E. K., & Skoglund, L. A. (1998). Comparison of present pain intensity assessment on horizontally and vertically oriented visual analogue scales. Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, 20, 719–724. doi:10.1358/mf.1998.20.8.487509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantril, H. (1965). The pattern of human concern. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, R. A. (1995). On the trail of the gold standard for subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 35, 179–200. doi:10.1007/BF01079026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dyer, R., Abdel-fattah, M., Barrington, J., & Gobrial, H. (2003). A simple visual analogue scale to assess the quality of life in women with urinary incontinence. Paper presented at the International Continence Society, the Urodynamics Society and SUFU, Florence, Italy.

  • Friedman, L. W., & Friedman, H. H. (1994). A comparison of vertical and horizontal rating scales. Mid-Atlantic Journal of Business, 30, 107–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gift, A. G. (1989). Validation of a vertical visual analogue scale as a measure of clinical dyspnea. Rehabilitation Nursing, 14, 323–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, M. E., & Sodergren, S. C. (1996). Development of a new type of global quality of life scale, and comparison of performance and preference for 12 global scales. Quality of Life Research, 5, 469–480. doi:10.1007/BF00540019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul-Dauphin, A., Guillemin, F., Virion, J. M., & Briancon, S. (1999). Bias and precision in visual analogue scales: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Epidemiology, 150, 1117–1127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Remington, N. A., Fabrigar, L. R., & Visser, P. S. (2000). Reexamining the circumplex model of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(2), 286–300. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.2.286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, J. (1980). A circumplex model of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(6), 1161–1178. doi:10.1037/h0077714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, J., & Carroll, J. (1999). On the bipolarity of positive and negative affect. Psychological Bulletin, 125(1), 3–30. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.1.3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sangster, R. L., Willits, F. K., Saltiel, J., Lorenze, F. O., & Rockwood, T. H. (2001). The effects of numerical labels on response scales. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association, Atlanta, GA.

  • Schwartz, N., Knauper, B., Hipler, H. J., Noelle-Neumann, E., & Clark, L. (1991). Numeric values may change the meaning of scale labels. Public Opinion Quarterly, 55, 570–582. doi:10.1086/269282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J., & Huskisson, E. C. (1976). Graphic representation of pain. Pain, 2, 185–195. doi:10.1016/0304-3959(76)90113-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J., & Huskisson, E. C. (1979). Vertical or horizontal visual analogue scales. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 38, 560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson, N. L., & Herman, J. (2000). Pain measurement: A comparison using horizontal and vertical visual analogue scales. Applied Nursing Research, 13, 157–158. doi:10.1053/apnr.2000.7658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (1974). Is there an innate need for children? European Journal of Social Psychology, 14, 495–501. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420040408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yik, M. S. M., Russell, J. A., & Feldman Barrett, L. (1999). Structure of self-reported current affect: Integration and beyond. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(3), 600–619. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.600.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Sistan & Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

    Mehrdad Mazaheri

  2. Methodology and Psychometrics, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Peter Theuns

Authors
  1. Mehrdad Mazaheri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter Theuns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mehrdad Mazaheri.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mazaheri, M., Theuns, P. Effects of Varying Response Formats on Self-ratings of Life-Satisfaction. Soc Indic Res 90, 381–395 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9263-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9263-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation