Factor loading issue with reversed-coded items

[Ehsan Saeedi]

Dear Neeraj sir and other group members,

I hope this email finds you in good health,

I've conducted a pilot study for a research project with a sample size of 115 respondents. 

I am facing following issues:

FWB - Has 6 statements, 3 are positive, 3 (with asterisk*) are reversed-coded. When checking the item factor loadings on SPSS Amos - CB SEM, the results are like this: 

SFWB06*	<---	SFWB	.174
SFWB05*	<---	SFWB	.302
SFWB04	<---	SFWB	-.619
SFWB03*	<---	SFWB	.415
SFWB02	<---	SFWB	-.802
SFWB01	<---	SFWB	-.739

However, when I am using the data as it is, not accounting for reversed items (meaning not reversing them, treating them as positive items), the results are like this: 

SFWB06*	<---	SFWB	.174
SFWB05*	<---	SFWB	.302
SFWB04	<---	SFWB	.619
SFWB03*	<---	SFWB	.415
SFWB02	<---	SFWB	.802
SFWB01	<---	SFWB	.739

 

Note: If I delete these three reversed-coded items from my analysis, the whole construct will collapse conceptually. These items measure important components of the construct and I have to keep at least two of them for conceptual clarity. 

My doubts are: 

What if I convert these reversed-coded items into positive statements and re-collect the data? 

Is this a valid method of handling this situation? 

And is it valid to convert such statements from negative to positive to match a particular context or study academically?  

Do you think the factor loadings for these three items would increase with a higher number of data?

I would sincerely appreciate it if you could share your expert opinion on this issue or any other solution that might help,

Best regards,

--

Best Regards,

ehsan.sa...@gmail.com

+91 7349273036

[Neeraj Kaushik]

Yes, it's a very common and old problem which we've discussed in this group several times.

It is a common observation that reverse-coded questions actually create problems in both reliability and factor loading.

Perhaps you need to remove the reverse coded items from your construct.

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[Ehsan Saeedi]

Thank you so much sir for the advice. 

 

Best regards,

Ehsan

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From: dataanalys...@googlegroups.com <dataanalys...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Neeraj Kaushik <kaushi...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2026 6:27:18 AM
To: dataanalys...@googlegroups.com <dataanalys...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: Factor loading issue with reversed-coded items

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dataanalysistraining/CAAd%3Dc8M3YWusx2Lis8p2MpG01%3Dj-%3D%3DmRC3f%3D%3DaXuTFapxos0aA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Ehsan Saeedi]

In continuation of this discussion, Sir, I would like to once again raise this query: 

Academically, is it permissible to convert originally developed reverse-coded statements for a construct into positively worded ones to improve respondents’ understanding and ease of analysis? (while, of course, preserving their original meaning/intention).