The University of Macau, China.
Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Assessment. 2023 Jul;30(5):1569-1589. doi: 10.1177/10731911221106775. Epub 2022 Jul 11.
Researchers often assume a strong, linear relationship between regular- and reverse-keyed items, with responses on regular-keyed items (e.g., agree) perfectly mirroring those on reverse-keyed items (e.g., disagree). The current research challenges this received view and propounds a possible nonlinear relationship, partly due to the logical tendency of midlevel respondents to disagree with both types of items. In four examples (reported human height, job satisfaction, positive-negative affect, and self-esteem; total = 50,544), a nonlinear model consistently explained additional item variance beyond a linear model. We further demonstrate that this relationship is moderated by item characteristics such as item extremity (job satisfaction) and item softening (self-esteem). Suboptimal modeling of the relationship may result in the apparent bidmensionality of a construct that characterizes regular- and reverse-keyed items as separate factors. User-friendly syntax for the examination of nonlinearity is provided to enhance the accessibility of the procedure.
研究人员通常假设常规和反向键项目之间存在强线性关系，常规键项目（例如同意）的反应完全反映了反向键项目（例如不同意）的反应。当前的研究挑战了这种公认的观点，并提出了一种可能的非线性关系，部分原因是中间水平的受访者在逻辑上倾向于不同意这两种类型的项目。在四个例子中（报告的人类身高、工作满意度、积极和消极情感以及自尊；总计=50544），非线性模型始终比线性模型更好地解释了额外的项目差异。我们进一步证明，这种关系受到项目特征（如项目极端性（工作满意度）和项目软化（自尊））的调节。如果关系模型不合适，则可能导致构建的明显双维度性，将常规键和反向键项目视为单独的因素。为了增强该程序的可用性，提供了用于检查非线性的用户友好语法。
