Moving rightward means going up: The effects of rating scale orientation and labels on the measurement of subjective social position

Abstract This paper aims to examine the effect of rating scale orientation and labels on the measurement of subjective social position. Literature on the effects of layout and labels on responses frequently reported the left-side selection bias. Among the theoretical hypotheses that may explain this bias, we focused on the pseudoneglect and the “Left and top means first” heuristic. To examine the prediction from each hypothesis, we conducted a web survey experiment (Study 1). The results, however, did not seem to support either of the two hypotheses. Therefore, we proposed another hypothesis that assumes the “Moving rightward means going up” heuristic and conducted a web survey experiment (Study 2). The results partially supported our hypothesis. Based on the results of our two experiments, we recommended that the measurement of subjective social position should use a vertically oriented rating scale with the verbal anchors “Upper—Lower” and the descending numerical labels.