Effects of Language and Meaningfulness on the Use ...

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Effects of Language and Meaningfulness on the Use of Extreme Response Style by Spanish-English Bilinguals Judith L. Gibbons, Jennifer A. Zellner and David J. Rudek Cross-Cultural Research 1999 33: 369 DOI: 10.1177/106939719903300404 The online version of this article can be found at: http://ccr.sagepub.com/content/33/4/369

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Cross-Cultural Gibbons et al. / Research LANGUAGE / November AND MEANINGFULNESS 1999

Effects of Language and Meaningfulness on the Use of Extreme Response Style by Spanish-English Bilinguals

Judith L. Gibbons Jennifer A. Zellner David J. Rudek Saint Louis University

Response style, specifically the tendency to use response categories that are distant from the midpoint of a Likert-type scale, has been linked to culture and to the personal meaningfulness of the item. In this study, 58 Spanish-English bilinguals completed two gender role attitudes scales—the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) and the Historic-Sociocultural Premises Scale (HSCP)—with items randomly assigned to be presented in English or Spanish. The HSCP was rated as more meaningful, and participants used more extreme categories in Spanish. Participants rated items on the Authors’ Note: This study was supported by an undergraduate research grant from the national office of Psi Chi and by the Beaumont Faculty Development Fund at Saint Louis University. The authors appreciate the help of Barry Katz for statistical consultation, Engracia Pérez-Prada for translation consultation, and Berna Guroglu for bibliographic searches. Hombre provided companionship and support for the writing of the manuscript. Correspondence may be addressed to Judith L. Gibbons, Department of Psychology, Saint Louis University, 221 North Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103; e-mail: [email protected]. Cross-Cultural Research, Vol. 33 No. 4, November 1999 369-381 © 1999 Sage Publications, Inc.

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AWS as more meaningful and used more extreme categories when items were presented in their first language; meaningfulness did not completely account for the latter effect. The results suggest that both language and meaningfulness affect response style. Response style is important not only as a confounding variable in crosscultural research but as an indicator of personal meaning and other culturally related phenomena such as language. Cultural differences in response styles, particularly the tendency to use either the middle range or the extreme categories on Likerttype scales, have plagued cross-cultural researchers for decades. In an early article in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Chun and colleagues urged researchers to attend to response styles in cross-cultural research and demonstrated how inattention could lead to misleading interpretations of results (Chun, Campbell, & Yoo, 1974). In a recent methodological treatise, van de Vijver and Leung (1997) recommended considering the use of scores standardized within individuals to eliminate the effects of differential use of extreme and middle scores. The usefulness of standardization was demonstrated in a study that could serve as a paradigm of methodological sophistication; Kashima and colleagues used a double standardization procedure to eliminate both response styles associated with individuals and those associated with cultural groups (Kashima et al., 1995). Despite numerous exhortations to attend to, and established methods for controlling for, response styles in cross-cultural research, “the origin of the response styles themselves . . . remain[s] the mystery it has always been” (Yates, Lee, & Bush, 1997, p. 88). The purpose of this study was to unveil yet more influences on response styles that are relevant to cross-cultural studies. Differences in response style have been shown to be related to ethnicity (Bachman & O’Malley, 1984; Hui & Triandis, 1989; Marín, Gamba, & Marín, 1992; Shapiro, Rosenblood, Berlyne, & Finberg, 1976), nationality (Chen, Lee, & Stevenson, 1995; Stening & Everett, 1984; Zax & Takahashi, 1967), age (Greenleaf, 1992; Stening & Everett, 1984), and rarely gender (Bellezza, Greenwald, & Banaji, 1986). The differences have been interpreted most often as due to a dispositional or cultural trait. For example, Asians and Asian Americans have been said to prefer the “middle road” as a reflection of Confucian moderation (Chia, Allred, & Jerzak, 1997). However, different Asian nationalities


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appear to take the middle road to a greater or lesser extent. In a study of expatriate managers from nine nations, Japanese managers were found to use the scale midpoints the most often and the extreme responses the least often. Managers from Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand more often used extreme scores (Stening & Everett, 1984). In one of the more compelling studies to link response style to cultural variables, Marín and colleagues found that, not only did Hispanic respondents more often choose extreme response categories compared to non-Hispanic white respondents but that an extreme response style was negatively correlated with acculturation (Marín et al., 1992). Less acculturated Hispanic respondents used extreme categories more often. Thus, response style meets one of the criteria for a culturally driven phenomenon (Triandis, 1994). However, those effects might have been confounded with language because, in three of four studies, respondents could answer in either English or Spanish, and more acculturated Hispanic participants might have chosen English more often. There is a second source of response styles that has received some empirical support. Triandis and Marín (1983) suggested that respondents use more extreme scores when the issues addressed are more meaningful to them. Thus, many cultural groups, especially when administered questionnaires that are developed in other cultures, show the middle-of-the-road response: an increased tendency to use the midpoints of the scale and a decreased tendency to use the extremes. A similar notion was advanced by van Ijzendoorn (1984), who had respondents provide answers to a questionnaire without questions. Participants in that study tended to use middle responses such as sometimes or they marked the second or third of four options to the unknown questions. The meaningfulness hypothesis was systematically investigated by Gibbons, Hamby, and Dennis (1997) in a study using three scales measuring attitudes toward gender roles. For each item, the respondent first rated his or her opinion (from strongly agree to strongly disagree) and then rated the meaningfulness of the item to him or her personally. On most of the 94 items, there was a significant correlation between the distance of the attitude rating from the midpoint on the scale and the meaningfulness of the item. Another potential source of response style differences is the language of administration of questionnaires. There have been many


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studies that have demonstrated differences when bilinguals respond to items in two different languages. The effects that have been clearly demonstrated include: ethnic affirmation, or cultural accommodation, which is defined as giving a stronger endorsement to culturally relevant items in the language of the culture (Marín, Triandis, Betancourt, & Kashima, 1983; Ralston, Cunniff, & Gustafson, 1995); and social desirability, or responding in a socially desirable way to items presented in a second or less familiar language (Marín et al., 1983). The purpose of this study was to directly test the influence of language (both one’s first language and the language in which the item is presented) on the use of extreme response categories. In addition, the effect of item meaningfulness was assessed. Finally, the question was asked: Are the effects of language mediated by meaningfulness? We addressed these issues by having bilingual persons respond to items presented in two languages, using two different scales that originated in different cultural settings.

METHOD PARTICIPANTS

The participants were 58 students attending a private, midwestern, U.S. university in which English is the language of instruction for all classes except Spanish language and literature classes. In addition, the university maintains a campus in Madrid; many students from the midwestern campus study in Spain, and many Spanish students study at the midwestern campus. The 32 participants (20 men and 12 women, mean age = 22), whose first language was Spanish, identified themselves as Latino/a (1), Spanish (21), Hispanic (3), Puerto Rican (3), and other (4). Twenty-two had been born in Spain, 2 in Panama, 1 in Peru, 2 in Venezuela, 1 in the continental United States, 1 in Germany, and 3 in Puerto Rico. The participant who was born in Germany had lived in Spain for 20 years. The participant who was born in the mainland United States was of Argentinian heritage and had lived in both Argentina and Spain. Of the 26 participants (8 men and 18 women, mean age = 22), whose first language was English, 4 listed their ethnicity as African American or Black, 2 as Asian American, 10 as European American, 4 as Latino or Hispanic, 1 as Native American, 4 as



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other; and 1 was missing. Twenty-four reported being born in the continental United States, 1 in the Philippines, and 1 in Belize. Fifteen of the participants reported having lived in a country in which Spanish is the dominant language (most often Spain) for an extended period of time. Of those who had not lived in a Spanish language country, 3 participants listed their ethnicity as Hispanic. Thus, many of the participants had significant exposure to a Spanish environment. The sample was also notable for significant international experience, in that 3 additional students reported having lived in Germany, Nigeria, or Quebec, Canada. Of the total sample, 26 participants described themselves as bicultural and described their bicultural identity in various ways, including Spanish and American; Spanish and Inglés; Korean and American; Philippines [and United States]; Belizean Creole (a mixture of many); Latin American, USA; Mexican American; and American, European, and African. INSTRUMENTS

The questionnaire that we administered consisted of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) (Spence & Helmreich, 1972), the Historic-Sociocultural Premises Scale (HSCP) (Díaz-Guerrero, 1975), a measure of meaningfulness (Gibbons et al., 1997), and demographic questions. The AWS originated in the United States and was designed to assess attitudes toward women’s roles. It consists of 25 items, rated on a 4-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree) in the original version; for this study, the response categories were expanded to a 5-point Likert-type scale because a 5-point scale has been clearly demonstrated to be sensitive to an extreme response style (Hui & Triandis, 1989). The HSCP was designed in Mexico to tap the basic premises of Mexican culture regarding women’s, men’s, and children’s roles. It consists of 29 items. These items were originally rated in a simple agree/disagree format but were altered to a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) for this study. The meaningfulness of each item was assessed with the question, “From your own personal perspective, how meaningful is this statement to you?” The 5-point Likert-type scale was anchored at (1 = not at all meaningful to 5 = extremely meaningful). The 54 items from the combined scales were randomly assigned to be presented in either Spanish or English, such that the finished


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scale consisted of instructions in both languages—27 items in Spanish (12 AWS, 15 HSCP) and 27 items in English (13 AWS, 14 HSCP)—in random order. Meaningfulness items were in the same language as the corresponding attitude items. The HSCP items were used in their original Spanish and English versions (DíazGuerrero, 1972, 1975). The AWS had been translated into Spanish and back-translated into English for a previous study (PérezPrada, 1992); that translation was reevaluated by two bilingual persons, and slight modifications were made. For the last two items, respondents were asked to translate the items into the other language to determine bilingual proficiency. Three participants (not included in the above total) were eliminated when they failed to translate the items adequately. Finally, the demographics section asked for the respondent’s year in school, age, ethnicity, place of birth, gender, marital status, and first language. PROCEDURE

Participants were recruited from advanced Spanish language and literature classes, international organizations on campus, and by word of mouth. Participants were told that the purpose of the study was to determine how students from different cultural backgrounds viewed traditional and nontraditional roles of women and men. Each volunteer was given a copy of the recruitment statement and the questionnaire. Questionnaires required approximately 30-45 minutes to complete. Each participant received a free movie pass for his or her participation.

RESULTS SCALE RELIABILITY

The four scales created by the random assignment of language to the items were evaluated for internal consistency by means of Cronbach’s alpha. The 13 items comprising the English version of the AWS had an alpha of .76; the 12 items comprising the Spanish version of the AWS, an alpha of .80; and the 14 items comprising the English set of HSCP items, an alpha of .84. Two items that failed to correlate with the total scale were removed from the



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Spanish set of HSCP items, and the remaining 13 items had an alpha of .72. Thus, the created scales exhibited good reliability. MEANINGFULNESS AND RESPONSE STYLE

The next analysis replicated the relation between item meaningfulness and use of scores distal from the midpoint of the scale (Gibbons et al., 1997). For 40 of the 52 items from the four scales, there were significant correlations between the distance from the midpoint on the attitude question and the judged meaningfulness of the item (.27 < r < .71, p < .05). The expected number of correlations that would be significant by chance is 2.6. LANGUAGE AND MEANINGFULNESS

The ratings of meaningfulness on the HSCP were analyzed with a 2 x 2 (Language of the Scale ´ First Language) mixed MANOVA, with the language of the scale serving as a repeated measure. There was a significant effect for the language of the scale, F(1, 56) = 25.14, p < .001, with the Spanish HSCP being rated as more meaningful (M = 3.78, SD = .62) than the English HSCP (M = 3.49, SD = .68). When the AWS was analyzed using the same design, there was a significant interaction between language of the scale and first language of the participants, F(1, 56) = 5.47, p < .05, with the scale considered more meaningful in one’s first language (see Figure 1). LANGUAGE, MEANINGFULNESS, AND RESPONSE STYLE

The distance from the midpoint (extreme response style) on the HSCP was analyzed with a 2 x 2 (Language of the Scale ´ First Language) mixed MANOVA, with the language of the scale serving as a repeated measure. There was a significant effect for the language of the scale, F(1, 56) = 11.10, p < .01, with participants using more distal categories (M = 1.35, SD = .28) for the Spanish HSCP than for the English HSCP (M = 1.24, SD = .25). There was also a significant effect for the first language of the participants, F(1, 56) = 10.79, p < .01, with native Spanish speakers (M = 1.38, SD = .24) using more distal categories than did native English speakers (M = 1.19, SD = .27).


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Figure 1:

Meaningfulness of Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) as Related to First Language and Language of the Scale

The distance from the midpoint (extreme response style) on the HSCP was next analyzed with the scale meaningfulness as a covariate. The design was a 2 ´ 2 (Language of the Scale ´ First Language) mixed MANOVA, with the average meaningfulness of each language version serving as the covariate and with the language of the scale serving as a repeated measure. Each of the covariates contributed significant variance to the results; under these conditions, the effect of the language of the scale failed to reach significance. However, there continued to be a significant effect for the first language of the participants, F(1, 55) = 8.58, p < .01, with native Spanish speakers using more distal ratings than did native English speakers. The distance from the midpoint (extreme response style) on the AWS was analyzed with a 2 ´ 2 (Language of the Scale ´ First Language) mixed MANOVA, with the language of the scale serving as a repeated measure. There was a significant interaction between the first language and language of the scale, F(1, 56) = 7.70, p < .01, with participants using more distal categories when



Figure 2:

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Mean Distance From the Midpoint of Responses to Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) in English and Spanish by Respondents Whose First Language is English or Spanish

the scale was presented in their first language. The interaction is depicted in Figure 2. In a second analysis of the use of the extreme response style on the AWS, the meaningfulness of the Spanish and English versions were covaried out. The design was a 2 ´ 2 (Language of the Scale ´ First Language) mixed MANOVA, with the average meaningfulness of each language version serving as the covariate and with the language of the scale serving as a repeated measure. With this analysis, each of the covariates contributed significantly to the variance, and the interaction between the language of the scale and the first language of participants remained significant, F(1, 55) = 4.33, p < .05.

DISCUSSION The results of this study underscore the importance of item meaningfulness in response styles. This has important


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implications for cross-cultural researchers who use instruments developed in one cultural setting in a different setting. One source of meaningfulness may be familiarity due to one’s own cultural heritage. If the items are personally less meaningful, respondents can be expected to take the middle road or to express less intense opinions or attitudes. The language of administration is also important in both the meaningfulness of scales and in the use of extreme response categories. The HSCP was considered more meaningful and elicited more extreme responses in Spanish than in English. Although it is possible that random assignment of the items to language condition resulted in a biased sample of the HSCP items, it is likely that the scale, developed originally to tap Mexican sociocultural premises (Díaz-Guerrero, 1972, 1975), is more meaningful to both native English speakers and native Spanish speakers in its original language. This is sustained by the finding that, when meaningfulness was used as a covariate, the difference between the different language versions in the use of extreme scores disappeared. For the AWS, the pattern of results differed. Respondents both found the items more meaningful and responded with more extreme responses when items were presented in their first language. However, the meaningfulness did not entirely account for the difference in response style in that differences in response style persisted after covarying out meaningfulness. There are several possible interpretations of these results. Although the AWS was developed in the United States, it was intended as an instrument with broad applicability and, in fact, has been used successfully in a variety of cultural settings (see review by Gibbons et al., 1997). More likely, however, is that the AWS was applicable to all the participants in this study because what they had in common was that they all attended a university in the United States where the language of instruction is English. As has been pointed out by Grosjean (1998), bilinguals do not have equal proficiency in all aspects of the two languages because the languages are used for different purposes and with different people. In this context, proficiency in English in an academic setting was the ability shared by the participants. Therefore, items such as the AWS item “sons in the family should be given more encouragement to go to college than daughters” may have had high personal relevance for all participants, especially when presented in their first language.



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The results of this study have implications for cross-cultural research because they suggest that both first language and personal meaningfulness of the questions asked may affect response style. Those variables are likely to differ for persons of different cultural backgrounds and so may contribute to any differences observed. However, this study was not a direct test of a cultural contribution to response style. Both the native English speakers and the native Spanish speakers of this study were extremely diverse in their cultural backgrounds. Moreover, the only finding in this study that might possibly be attributed to culture was that the participants who had Spanish as their first language found the HSCP more meaningful and responded with more extreme scores than did participants who had English as a first language. There were no other significant main effects for first language. In conclusion, both language and meaningfulness play a role in the use of extreme response categories. A fervent opinion, as indicated by checking strongly agree or strongly disagree, may be the result of an issue being both personally meaningful and expressed in a language associated with one’s earliest memories and feelings.

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Gibbons, J. L., Hamby, B. A., & Dennis, W. D. (1997). Researching gender-role ideologies internationally and cross-culturally. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 151-170. Greenleaf, E. A. (1992). Measuring extreme response style. Public Opinion Quarterly, 56, 328-351. Grosjean, F. (1998). Studying bilinguals: Methodological and conceptual issues. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1, 131-149. Hui, C. H., & Triandis, H. C. (1989). Effects of culture and response format on extreme response style. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20, 296-309. Kashima, Y., Yamaguchi, S., Kim, U., Choi, S. -C., Gelfand, M. J., & Yuki, M. (1995). Culture, gender, and self: A perspective from individualism-collectivism research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 925-937. Marín, G., Gamba, R. J., & Marín, B. V. (1992). Extreme response style and acquiescence among Hispanics: The role of acculturation and education. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 23, 498-509. Marín, G., Triandis, H. C., Betancourt, H., & Kashima, Y. (1983). Ethnic affirmation versus social desirability: Explaining discrepancies in bilinguals’ responses to a questionnaire. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 14, 173-186. Pérez-Prada, E. (1992). Gender roles in Spain and the USA. Unpublished master’s thesis, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri. Ralston, D. A., Cunniff, M. K., & Gustafson, D. J. (1995). Cultural accommodation: The effect of language on the responses of bilingual Hong Kong Chinese managers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 26, 714-727. Shapiro, A. H., Rosenblood, L., Berlyne, G. M., & Finberg, J. (1976). The relationship of test familiarity to extreme response styles in Bedouin and Moroccan boys. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 7, 357-364. Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. L. (1972). The Attitudes Toward Women Scale: An objective instrument to measure attitudes toward the rights and roles of women in contemporary society. JSAS: Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 2, 667-668. Stening, B. W., & Everett, J. E. (1984). Response styles in a cross-cultural managerial study. Journal of Social Psychology, 122, 151-156. Triandis, H. C. (1994). Culture and social behavior. New York: McGrawHill. Triandis, H. C., & Marín, G. (1983). Etic plus emic versus pseudoetic: A test of a basic assumption of contemporary cross-cultural psychology. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 14, 489-500. van de Vijver, F., & Leung, K. (1997). Methods and data analysis for cross-cultural research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (1984). Answers without questions: A note on response style in questionnaires. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 59, 827-831. Yates, J. F., Lee, J. -W., & Bush, J. G. (1997). General knowledge overconfidence: Cross-national variations, response style, and “reality.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 70, 87-94.



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Zax, M., & Takahashi, S. (1967). Cultural influences on response styles: Comparison of Japanese and American college students. Journal of Social Psychology, 71, 3-10. Judith L. Gibbons is a professor of psychology at Saint Louis University. Her research focuses on cross-cultural and international studies of adolescent development including issues related to gender, growing up in difficult circumstances, and adolescents’ family relationships during cultural transitions. With Deborah Stiles of Webster University, she has been engaged in a large cross-national study of young adolescents’ views of the ideal woman and man. Jennifer A. Zellner is a graduate of Saint Louis University with degrees in psychology and Spanish. She plans to enter graduate school in fall 2000 to pursue her doctorate in health psychology with an emphasis on women’s health. David J. Rudek is pursuing a doctorate in developmental psychology at Loyola University, Chicago. He is a graduate of Saint Louis University with a major in psychology. His research interests include cognitive and emotional development during early childhood, including children’s memories of past events as revealed in their conversations with parents.
