The Psychology Beneath Our Likert Scale Products
The so-called Likert Scale is a format in which respondents are given a statement and they have a series of guided response along the lines we use such as “Strongly Agree”, “Agree”, “Not Sure”, “Disagree” and “Strongly Disagree”. We generally prefer not to use binary choice formats “True – False”, although we sometimes do use them.

For each of these Likert Scale products, we leave it up to our users to determine if there are desirable or preferred responses and what they are. This may depend on the user, the respondent and the situation.

At one level, these products are meant to provide valuable diagnostic information to our providers who use them and self-generated insight and learning to respondents. At another level, they can also be used for intervention – which means facilitating changes in thoughts, emotions or behaviors. Please consider the following way in which these Likert Scale products can be used at the intervention level.

For any given item on a Likert Scale product, you, the provider, can determine the response you consider most healthy or desirable. This response represents the therapeutic outcome you want to achieve for that item. Let’s call this response the preferred response. On any given item you can also objectively state what you think an accurate response would be based on your knowledge of the respondent answering that item. Let’s call this potential response the accurate response. Finally, there is the response the respondent actually makes on the form. Let’s simply call this the actual response.

Based on these three concepts, we can create four potential categories for different combinations of these three variables. These categories are:
Acknowledged Positives – this is where the preferred response, the accurate response and the actual response are all the same. In other words, the respondent sees one of their own positive characterisitcs and you agree that their self-assessment on this item is accurate. This allows you to give positive reinforcement to that client’s answer. Positive reinforcement works, as we all should know.  It’s the most resistance free therapeutic strategy there is, especially when we are re-affirming something the respondent themselves acknowledges as a positive.
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For example, using our “Social Avoidance - 1” as a model, let’s suppose a client answers “Strongly Agree” to the item that says, “I am generally on time for meetings and appointments with people”. Most of us would say that this is the preferred response. Let’s suppose you also happen to agree with their answer. This would be a perfect acknowledged positive as the preferred response, the accurate response and the actual response are all the same.
Unacknowledged Positives – this is where the preferred response and the accurate response are the same, but the actual response is different. We can think of this as a positive blind spot – a situation where the respondent can’t see one of their own positives. In the best case, your sharing of your differing evaluation to the respondent will close this blind spot and allow them to see something positive about themselves they have not seen before. If they accept your opinion, you can then proceed to give positive reinforcement on this characteristic. In some cases, however, you will find respondents resist your opinion, and we encourage you not to “sell” it too hard as it will usually only intensify the resistance.
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Using “Social Avoidance – 1” again as our model, let’s say the respondent answers “Disagree” to the item, “I am not overly long winded in my conversations with people; I let others talk as much as I do”. Most of us would see “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” as the preferred answers. Let us suppose your experience with this client is that they are not long-winded or monopolistic. Therefore, you see the accurate answer as “Agree”. In this case, the respondent is “blind” to one of their own positive characteristics.
Acknowledged Negatives – this is where the non-preferred response (the opposite of the preferred response), the accurate response and the actual response are all the same. In other words, this respondent sees and acknowledges one of their own negative characteristic. The most productive intervention in this case is first to reinforce non-defensiveness. This opportunity to reduce defensiveness should not be missed. Another intervention to consider is to simply ask the respondent what they plan to do about their admitted negative. Spontaneous change is quite common to see once people see and acknowledge their own negatives.
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Getting back to the “Social Avoidance – 1”, let’s say the respondent agrees with the statement “Some people may see me as too rigid or controlling”. Let’s say you agree as well. Most would also regard this as the non-preferred response. So, in this case, the non-preferred response, the accurate response and the actual response are all the same and an acknowledged negative is thereby established.
Unacknowledged Negatives – this is where the non-preferred response and the accurate response are the same, but the actual response is different. In this case, the respondent either can’t see or won’t admit to one of their negative characteristics. Defended negatives like this should be approached carefully, if at all. The intricacies of working with defended negatives go beyond the scope of this section. Nonetheless, beware: if you approach these unacknowledged negatives at the wrong time or in the wrong manner, be prepared for resistance, possible harm to the relationship and possibly even the loss of a client or patient.
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Using “Social Avoidance – 1” in our final example, let’s say the respondent agrees with the statement “I pay attention to what I wear so that it is appropriate for the situation”. The non-preferred response here would be “Disagree”. Let’s say this client dresses in a highly sexualized and inappropriate way for therapy meetings. Therefore, the accurate response and the non-preferred response are the same, but the actual response is different. In other words, this respondent can’t see or won’t admit that the way they dress may be inappropriate.

We should point out that some of our items don’t necessarily have a clearly preferred response. In other cases, it may depend on the situation, the client or the goals of the provider. Yet, there will be numerous instances where this classification and intervention approach discussed above will be relevant and useful.

One of the great challenges in providing mental health treatment is to be aware of, and have the opportunity to, reinforce positives. Using our Likert Scale products in this way almost makes this inevitable.