The Job Descriptive Index revisited: Questions about the question mark.

The scoring of the ? response option for items in the Work scale of the Job Descriptive Index (JDI; Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1969) was investigated. The scale was administered to 548 individuals at a large university. Analyses similar to those completed by Smith et al. and polychotomous item response theory (IRT) analyses were conducted. The results obtained with Smith et al.'s procedure confirmed that the ? option should be scored as a more negative than positive response for the overall scale. Work satisfaction items that did not discriminate between satisfied and dissatisfied individuals were identified from the latent trait analyses. Using IRT to evaluate such item response options as neutral and no opinion is discussed. Results from items in the Co-Workers and Pay scales of the JDI and the Health and Retirement Valence scales of the Retirement Descriptive Index (Smith et al., 1969) are described