Using reversed items in Likert scales: A questionable practice

Abstract

The results of this study present a trade-off between a potential acquiescence bias when items are positively worded and a potential different understanding when combining regular and reversed items in the same test. The specialized literature recommends combining regular and reversed items for controlling for response style bias, but these results caution researchers in using them as well after accounting for the potential effect of linguistic skills and the findings presented in this study.