Words in self-report questions are interpreted differently as a function of the content

What is it about?

Probability expressions (e.g., likely, possible, etc.) are ambiguous and can be interpreted in different ways. These words are frequently used in survey questions (e.g., It is possible that I've cheated on my taxes) and personality items (e.g., It's likely that other people fear me?). This research examined how these words are interpreted as a function of the content of the question. The main finding was that these words are interpreted as indicating greater certainty when the content was more negative. Hence, people interpreted possible as indicating greater certainty in an item like "It's possible I cheated on my taxes" than in an item like "It's possible I forgot to turn off the light"

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Why is it important?

This research is important because it contributes to our understanding of how people interpret and hence respond to self-report items. Self-report measures (surveys, personality measures, etc.) are widely used and relied upon for decision making. Understanding how people interpret these questions is thus critical for evaluating the validity of this data.