Advancing the psychometrics of reverse-keyed items : enriching cognitive theory by a logical and linguistic perspective

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14230%2F25%3A00144489" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14230/25:00144489 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1684612/full" target="_blank" >https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1684612/full</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1684612" target="_blank" >10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1684612</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Advancing the psychometrics of reverse-keyed items : enriching cognitive theory by a logical and linguistic perspective

Original language description

Inclusion of reverse-keyed items in a questionnaire usually impacts its factor structure and reliability. Therefore, their presence or absence also affects measurement validity, yet a clear consensus on their use is missing. In this paper, we provide an overview of the literature on the use of reverse-keyed items. We outline the typical arguments for and against their use, along with the cognitive explanatory framework commonly used to account for the associated issues. We further argue that while the cognitive model of responding is theoretically meaningful, it cannot, on its own, identify specific error sources from reverse-keyed item sets, and that issue lies in the implicit assumption regarding how reverse-keyed items should function. Furthermore, we note that literature on reverse-keyed items is at an impasse, with conflicting recommendations and inconclusive results. As a solution, we introduce a logical and linguistic perspective to advance our understanding of reverse-keyed items. This perspective allows researchers to understand that response inconsistencies in a statistical model do not necessarily indicate logically inconsistent answers from the respondent. Enriching the cognitive model with a linguistic perspective, which has been missing in psychometric literature, allows us to differentiate between mere statistical and actual response inconsistency. Based on this combination of cognitive and linguistic theory, we advance the historical analysis of response bias by suggesting that future research should closely draw from linguistic concepts to arrive at a promising explanatory framework that can then better inform modeling decisions. However, further empirical studies are needed to test our hypotheses and evaluate the magnitude and relevance of the proposed linguistic effects.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

50101 - Psychology (including human - machine relations)

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA23-06924S" target="_blank" >GA23-06924S: Response-scale format effects on the psychometric parameters of items</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Frontiers in Psychology

ISSN

1664-1078

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

16

Issue of the periodical within the volume

October

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

9

Pages from-to

„1684612“

UT code for WoS article

001606064600001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105020800229