Self-report measures of attitudes and personality characteristics often use items with Likert-type response scales where respondents select an answer from a range of ordered options (e.g., agree–disagree). Such response scales can differ in several formal attributes – number of options, verbal anchors, their extremity, or orientation. These may affect reliability and validity of responses and total scores and directly affect measurement quality. For better understanding of the response process, we propose an explanatory psychometric model allowing to investigate the differences in cognitive processes in responding to different response scales. The proposed model accommodates for inter-individual differences in response-scale perception and can model several response-scale attributes simultaneously. We will test the model in a series of online mixed experimental designs manipulating response-scale attributes. The results can be used for equating measures using different response scales, selection of optimal scale format in scale development, or more precise reliability estimation.

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