Reverse Scoring & Negative Values

ScoreApp’s scoring system is designed to help you measure quiz-taker responses against key indicators. In most cases, a higher point total is seen as “better” (e.g., a higher score = stronger health, better knowledge, etc.). However, there are times you may want to assign negative or “reverse” scores, especially when a higher number of points should indicate a more negative outcome.

This article covers how to approach reverse scoring and negative values in ScoreApp, key limitations, and recommended workarounds or best practices.

1. What Is Reverse Scoring?

“Reverse scoring” (or “negative scoring”) means you award fewer (or negative) points for answers that ordinarily might be labeled “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” because, in the context of your quiz, that high agreement indicates an undesired or negative trait. In short, you might want a “Yes” to subtract from the total instead of adding to it, because a “Yes” indicates, for example, high stress, low readiness, or an undesirable outcome.

Example scenario

If you’re measuring “Risk,” a higher number means more risk (which is bad).
If you want the final “Risk Score” to reflect that higher = worse, you might be tempted to assign negative values to keep your final display consistent.

2. How ScoreApp Handles Negative Points

ScoreApp supports positive and negative values for multiple-choice question types. Technically, you can type in “-1,” “-5,” or any negative number as the “points” for an answer on multiple-choice questions.

However, it is important to note:

The final score will never display below 0%. If the total calculation produces a negative number, ScoreApp caps the final percentage at 0%.
Negative scoring can also confuse your respondents if used too liberally. Many quiz-builders instead assign zero (0) for “bad” or “undesired” answers, and more points for better or stronger answers, then adjust your Score Tiers accordingly.

Why can’t I see a final negative percentage?

Because the final result is always converted to a percentage (0–100%), any negative total is displayed as 0%. This can result in more participants falling into your “lowest tier” if you rely heavily on negative numbers.

3. Using Reverse or Negative Scoring in Multiple-Choice Questions

If you want to create a scenario where some responses “pull down” the final score, multiple-choice is currently the only question type where you can enter a negative integer in the scoring field. For instance:

Answer A: +2 points
Answer B: +1 point
Answer C: 0 points
Answer D: –1 point

This allows you to mark “undesirable” answers with negative weighting. Just remember that if the net total for a user is negative, the final displayed percentage is 0%.

Steps to implement:

Choose “Multiple Choice” for your question type (rather than a scale).
Edit the question → On the right sidebar, go to “Answers” tab.
Assign the categories (optional, if you are measuring category-level scores).
Enter the negative or positive number in the “Scores” field for each answer.
Save and repeat for other questions.

4. Why Sliding Scale Questions Can’t Directly Use Negative Values

ScoreApp’s Slider / Linear Scale question type uses a single ascending range (e.g., 1–5, 1–10, or 1–100). The numeric value chosen is directly added to the participant’s total points. There is no built-in way to invert or reverse that scale so that a larger input reduces the total.

Recommended Workarounds:

Rephrase the question so that a higher rating is always “better.” For example, if your statement is negative, rewrite it as a positive statement so that strongly agree remains “+” in the final logic.
Use multiple-choice if you must award negative or reversed points, awarding 0 or negative values as needed.
Use Score Tiers to re-label high scores as “worse” and low scores as “better.” If you insist on a scenario where 80% is “high risk,” simply invert your tier labels and color-coding accordingly.

5. Best Practices for Reverse-Score Quizzes

Rewrite or “Flip” the Statement: If the item is negative (e.g., “I frequently fail to meet deadlines”), consider rewording it into a positive statement so the “Agree” answer can remain a positive point assignment.
Assign Zero Instead of Negative: If you don’t want to display 0% all the time for negative scorers, assign 0 points to “bad” answers and 1 (or higher) to “good” answers. You can still create “gaps” in your scoring ranges to highlight more severe issues—just not truly negative sums.
Use Score Tiers Intentionally: If your quiz is truly a “higher = worse” scenario, label your highest tier as “High Risk” or “Severe Problem,” and the lowest tier as “Low Risk” or “Minimal Problem.” This clarifies for the participant that a “high” percentage means greater severity, not “congratulations.”
Stay Consistent: Keep the meaning of “High” or “Low” uniform throughout the quiz to avoid confusing participants. If you have to mix positively and negatively worded items, be sure your final results page makes it clear how the scoring is interpreted.
Test! Because negative scoring can be tricky, always run a few test submissions to confirm the final results or categories are displayed as you expect.

6. Troubleshooting & FAQs

“My quiz takers with negative answers keep ending up with 0%, why?”

If you’ve assigned negative point values in multiple-choice questions, the participant’s total may drop below zero, which ScoreApp then caps at 0%. The displayed score (as a percentage) cannot go below 0%. If you prefer a wider range, consider awarding 0 points to “bad” answers and higher points to better answers.

“Can I reverse the slider for scaled questions so that ‘10’ means worst?”

Not currently. ScoreApp’s slider question type always awards points from left (lower number) to right (higher number). The best workaround is rewriting your question or using a multiple-choice format with customized scoring.

“Do I need separate Score Tiers for negative scoring?”

Score Tiers only accept percentage ranges (0–100). If negative totals are part of your design, participants whose totals drop below zero will show up as 0%. To differentiate subtleties among those who scored below zero vs. slightly above zero, you may want to avoid negative point totals and instead rely on zero for negative answers or on adjusting your question phrasing.

“What if I want some questions to count more strongly than others?”

You can weight questions by assigning higher values to certain answers. For example, if a question is especially critical, you might give it +5 points vs. +1 for a standard question. Similarly, you might attach a heavier negative penalty for certain “deal-breaker” answers (like –3). Just be sure the final sum of all points aligns with your intended Score Tier boundaries.

Key Takeaways

Multiple-choice questions can accept negative or positive point assignments, but keep in mind the final score cannot display below 0%.
Slider (linear) questions cannot use negative scoring or be reversed, so reword negative items to keep the scale direction consistent.
Flip your Score Tiers or labeling to highlight that a higher final percentage could be more negative.
If you do need negative scoring for specific advanced logic (e.g., scientific or psychometric scales), consider rewriting questions or awarding 0 for unwanted responses to avoid confusion.

Further reading

•Check out our Understanding Score Logic article for a more general overview.