Table 1.

Experimental Groups with Exact Question Wording, Accompanied Number of Scale Points, and Labeled Endpoints

Question wording	Scale
Group 1—Minimally Balanced. “In your opinion, to what extent is it generally possible to trust people?”	People cannot generally be trusted	People can generally be trusted
Group 2—Fully Balanced. “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?” (Original Scale)	Most people can be trusted	Need to be very careful in dealing with people
Group 3—Minimally Balanced. “In your opinion, to what extent is it generally possible to trust people?”	People cannot generally be trusted	Most people can be trusted
	1      2     3     4     5     6      7
Group 4—Fully Balanced. “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?”	Need to be very careful in dealing with people	People can generally be trusted
	1      2     3     4     5     6      7
Group 5—Minimally Balanced. “In your opinion, to what extent is it generally possible to trust people?” (Original Scale)	People cannot generally be trusted	People can generally be trusted
	0     1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9    10
Group 6—Fully Balanced. “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?”	Need to be very careful in dealing with people	Most people can be trusted
	0     1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9    10

Note.—Study 1 includes all groups, and study 2 includes groups 1 and 5.