Item Context Effects Are Relevant for Monitoring Evaluative Well-being: Replication of Previous Work and Mitigation

Item Context Effects Are Relevant for Monitoring Evaluative Well-being: Replication of Previous Work and Mitigation

Arthur A. Stone, Marta Walentynowicz, Stefan Schneider, Doerte U. Junghaenel, Joan E. Broderick, Angus Deaton

Journal paper

Field Methods

2022

To ensure the accuracy of self-reported data, it is important to reduce potential sources of bias such as the unwanted influence of prior questions on subsequent questions, the so-called item context effect. This article attempts to replicate the finding that evaluative subjective well-being was affected by a preceding item, a question about the political atmosphere in the country; it also examines manipulations that could mitigate the impact of the context-inducing item on well-being. Study 1 used a sample of 4,500 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk; it examined the effect of three manipulations based on adding buffer questions or adding text to reorient participants’ attention. A context effect was found, and one manipulation mitigated the context effect. Study 2 used a nationally representative sample (n = 906); it only replicated the context effect. These results reaffirm the importance of carefully considering item context effects in survey research.