The discrepancy of the scores on responses to negatively and positively worded items has led to hypotheses of inattention, confusion, difficulty, and differential processing of negatively worded items. The present study, utilizing eye-tracking methodology, aimed to fill an explanatory gap regarding response behavior, providing observations on the item-level response process. It experimentally examined characteristics of the items (wording type, self-relevance) and characteristics of the respondents (neuroticism, verbal abilities, and mood) for their impact on response outcomes. A sample of 87 university students completed a computerized version of a questionnaire with items presented in four alternative wording types: positive, negative, negated positive, and negated negative; half of the items referred to attitudes toward the self and the other half to attitudes toward others. Participants' eye movements during item completion were recorded with the Gazepoint-GP3-HD desk-mounted eye tracker. In linear mixed effects models, wording type and self-relevance were found to relate to response time, time of viewing and revisits to the body of the items and the response options, indicating that there were effects at the stages of comprehension and selection of response. Neuroticism was associated with differential item responses, suggesting a role in later levels of the response process, the retrieval, judgment, and response selection stages. Eye-tracking measures can enhance the examination of response tendencies with regards to item content, item wording, and person characteristics.
Keywords: Eye-tracking methodology; Linear mixed effects; Neuroticism; Positive and negative wording; Psychological scales; Self-relevance; Wording effects.
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