The influence of response scale alternatives on judgments of future academic expectations

Haddock, Geoffrey ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5293-2772 1998. The influence of response scale alternatives on judgments of future academic expectations. British Journal of Educational Psychology 68 (1) , pp. 113-119. 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1998.tb01278.x

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Abstract

Background. The study examined how students make judgments about their academic expectations, and whether these judgments are context dependent. Aims. The aim was to explore how the manipulation of response scale alternatives affects academic judgments. It was predicted that the response alternatives presented with a question would be used as information that would allow respondents to compare themselves to others, and that this comparison process would influence subsequent self-perceptions. Sample. The sample consisted of 55 first year university students (39 females, 16 males) with a mean age of 21.4 years. Methods. All participants first indicated the amount of TV they watched in an average day. In the low category range condition, the response alternatives (which ranged from ‘between 0 hours and 1/4 hour per day’ to ‘more than l½ hours per day’) were designed such that participants would conclude that they watched more TV than other students. In the high category range condition, the response alternatives (which ranged from ‘up to 1½ hours per day’ to ‘more than 3 hours per day’) were designed such that participants would conclude that they watched less TV than other students. Subsequently, all participants indicated how well they expected to perform in their academic studies for the coming year. Results. The results supported the hypothesis. Participants who answered the TV viewing question on the low category range scale expected to perform significantly worse than respondents in the high category range condition. Conclusions. The findings suggest that academic expectation judgments are at least partially context dependent.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Publisher:	British Psychological Society
ISSN:	0007-0998
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2022 09:02
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/35120

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