Deutsch Intern
Psychology of Communication and New Media

Questionnaires

On this page we provide you with questionnaires developed by the Chair of Psychology of Communication and New Media.

In our 2024 publication "Attitudes towards AI: measurement and associations with personality", we introduced the Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence questionnaire (ATTARI-12), a 12-item measure grounded in psychological research that is designed to assess individuals' general attitudes towards AI technology. Importantly, the ATTARI-12 distinguishes itself from comparable measures by...

  • ...capturing the full attitudinal spectrum ranging from very positive to very negative perceptions (i.e., involving both positively and negatively worded items; not just measuring AI-related hopes or fears)
  • ...acknowledging the well-established psychological trichotomy of cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects in human attitudes
  • ...allowing its application independent of specific or narrow contexts (as it assesses general attitudes towards AI)
  • ...still being an economocial measure that does not take up too much survey time.

Across several studies, we confirmed the high reliability and strong construct validity of the ATTARI-12, and provided clear evidence on its unidimensionality. 

When using the ATTARI-12, please cite:

Stein, J.-P., Messingschlager, T., Gnambs, T., Hutmacher, F., & Appel, M. (2024). Attitudes towards AI: Measurement and associations with personality. Scientific Reports, 14, 2909. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53335-2  

Instruction: In the following, we are interested in your attitudes towards artificial intelligence (AI). AI can execute tasks that typically require human intelligence. It enables machines to sense, act, learn, and adapt in an autonomous, human-like way. AI may be part of a computer or online platform—but it can also be encountered in various other hardware devices such as robots.

List of items:

  1. AI will make this world a better place.
  2. I have strong negative emotions about AI.
  3. I want to use technologies that rely on AI.
  4. AI has more disadvantages than advantages.
  5. I look forward to future AI developments.
  6. AI offers solutions to many world problems.
  7. I prefer technologies that do not feature AI.
  8. I am afraid of AI.
  9. I would rather choose a technology with AI than one without it.
  10. AI creates problems rather than solving them.
  11. When I think about AI, I have mostly positive feelings.
  12. I would rather avoid technologies that are based on AI.

Scoring manual: The ATTARI-12 is usually presented with a five-point answering scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). To obtain the final attitude score, first recode all negatively valenced items (no. 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12), before averaging all twelve items into a single index. Additionally, three subscores can be calculated for the cognitive (1, 4, 6, 10), affective (2, 5, 8, 11), and behavioral (3, 7, 9, 12) component of people's attitudes towards artificial intelligence.

German version: ATTARI-12

By now, the ATTARI-12 has been translated into several languages, often involving extensive validation efforts. As these translations have been developed by other research teams, we refer readers to their respective publications. Please note that the following referrals do not entail an explicit endorsement of scientific rigor or quality.
Since we were not involved in these versions, please direct any further questions to the respective authors.

Korean version: Lee, Kim, & Ahn (2025)

Polish version: Juranek (2025)

Romanian version: Maier et al. (2025)

Chinese version (Simple/Traditional): This translation is currently being developed by Dr. Jian Zhao at the University of Western Australia. We expect it to be published soon.

Japanese version: This translation is currently being developed by Dr. Jian Zhao at the University of Western Australia. We expect it to be published soon.

In our publication “A Short Measure of the Need for Affect,” we present and validate the 10-item short form of the “Need for Affect Questionnaire” (NAQ–S; see Maio & Esses, 2001). The short scale serves as a useful tool for assessing the need for affect and, through its subscales, allows for a distinction between approach and avoidance.

When using this scale, please cite: 

Appel, M., Gnambs, T., & Maio, G. R. (2012). A Short Measure of the Need for Affect. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94(4), 418–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2012.666921

List of items:

  1. (1.)   If I reflect on my past, I see that I tend to be afraid of feeling emotions. (AV)
  2. (3.)   I feel that I need to experience strong emotions regularly. (AP)
  3. (4.)   Emotions help people to get along in life. (AP)
  4. (8.)   I find strong emotions overwhelming and therefore try to avoid them. (AV)
  5. (6.)   I think it is important to explore my feelings. (AP)
  6. (9.)   I would prefer not to experience either the lows or highs of emotion. (AV)
  7. (10.) I do not know how to handle my emotions, so I avoid them. (AV)
  8. (18.) It is important for me to be in touch with my feelings. (AP)
  9. (19.) It is important for me to know how others are feeling. (AP)
  10. (11.) Emotions are dangerous - they tend to get me into situations that I would rather avoid. (AV)

Note. Items are presented with a 7-point scale ranging from –3 (strongly disagree) to 3 (strongly agree). Item number within the NAQ long form is shown in parentheses. AP = Approach subscale; AV = Avoidance subscale. To build an aggregate score of the Need for Affect, avoidance items must be reverse scored.

In our 2015 publication "The Transportation Scale-Short Form (TS-SF)", we introduced the Transportation Scale - Short Form (TS-SF) questionnaire, a psychologically developed 6-item instrument for measuring individual transportation. Transportation describes the experience of being immersed in the world of a story.

When using the TS-SF, please cite as follows:

Appel, M., Gnambs, T., Richter, T., & Green, M. C. (2015). The Transportation Scale-Short Form (TS-SF). Media Psychology, 18(2), 243-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2014.987400

List of items:

  1. I could see myself in the setting described in the story.
  2. While reading, I felt mentally drawn into the story.
  3. I wanted to know how the story would end.
  4. The story touched me emotionally.
  5. As I read the story, I could visualise Katie vividly.
  6. As I read the story, I could vividly imagine Joan.

Note: The italicised names in items 5 and 6 must be replaced by the names of the main characters in the story.

Scoring manual: The TS-SF is usually measured using a seven-point response scale (1 = not at all; 7 = very strongly). To obtain the final transportation score, either average the items into a single index value or calculate a total value from all items.

In our 2019 publication "Trolls only exist in fairy tales - The phenomenon of trolling on the internet", we introduced the Würzburg Trolling Scale (WTS ) questionnaire, a psychologically developed 9-item measuring instrument for recording individual trolling behaviour on the internet. Trolling is described as misleading and disruptive behaviour that occurs during social interactions on the internet. It aims to provoke others to elicit emotional reactions.

When using the WTS, please cite as follows:

Rieger, D., Dippold, J., & Appel, M. (2020). Trolls are not only in fairy tales - The phenomenon of trolling on the Internet. In M. Appel (Ed.), The psychology of the post-factual: On fake news, "lying press", clickbait & co (pp. 45-58). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-58695-2_5

Instruction: People differ in the way they behave on the Internet. Below are some statements about online behaviour. Please indicate to what extent you agree with the statements. (The following items are to be answered on a 7-point response scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree")

List of items:

  1. I like to disguise my identity on the internet so that I can sometimes write more extreme posts.
  2. I only post some things to annoy other users.
  3. I always make sure that I treat other people politely on the internet.
  4. I never post anything that could offend others.
  5. I like to provoke other users to test their reaction.
  6. I enjoy disrupting the flow of conversation on the Internet with comments.
  7. It makes me proud when one of my posts triggers a heated discussion.
  8. I like the attention I get from aggressive posts.
  9. I find it funny when people react aggressively to my comments.

Scoring manual: The WTS is usually measured using a seven-point response scale (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree). To obtain the final score for individual trolling behaviour, first recode items 3 and 4 before averaging all nine items into a single index score.