AbstractBalancing of one‐way worded scales such as the D scale has been sought by several authors. So far only the Ray (1970) BD scale has appeared successful. It is here examined whether the 1970 success can be replicated and also whether a new scale can be produced which will be suitable for use with community samples—not only with students. The suitability of the 1970 “Mark I” version of the BD scale for use with students was confirmed and a new “Mark II” BD scale was produced which was suitable for general use. An attempt to construct an eclectic scale using the best items of Mark I and Mark II was not