Rasch Model Analysis on Malay Love Song Lyrics and Its Relationship with Willingness for Counselling Help Seeking

The Rasch model has been described as the only method to transform raw data from the human sciences into abstract equal-interval scales considered as a logistic item response. The model independently maps the reliability of both items and persons along a theorized underlying latent continuum. Therefore, it is considered as the best method to analyse a measure of our newly proposed concept hierarchy of love in human relationship. The aim of this paper presentation is twofold (i) to report a Rasch model analysis on Malay song lyrics against a theoretical construct known as hierarchy of love in human relations and (ii) to consequently investigate the relationships of the responses on Malay song lyrics and willingness for counselling help seeking. Phase 1: A total of 245 respondents were randomly selected from a public university in Malaysia. Phase 2: A total of 161 respondents were randomly selected from another public university in Malaysia. of hierarchy of love were selected from 20 Malay love song lyrics (MLSL) from the chart of top ten most popular song prior to year 2000 and after 2000 constructed to become 97 items Likert-type scales; and willingness of counselling help seeking (WCHS) were measure by a three item likert-typle scales. Phase 1: Rasch model analysis showed person reliability was .96 and item reliability was .85. Dimensionality map showed there were two latent construct of Malay Love Song Lyrics (MLSL), upon scrutinizing, the first construct of MLSL indicated Transcendental Love and the second construct indicated Natural Love . Person-Map-Items showed there were five levels of respondents however there were only two levels for items. The results also showed all items are within the infit-out fit 1.96 cut off values functions the same intended positive direction and appeared to unidimensionaly measure the intensity of hierarchy of love. Phase2: We analysed Pearson’s correlation between responses on the total scores of the Malay Love Song Lyrics (MLSL) and willingness of counselling help seeking (WCHS). Results indicated that there was a significant positive low relationship, r=.228, p<.05. The findings of the study suggested there were only two levels and two dimensions of the Malay love song lyrics (MLSL). Items did not spreading covered a broad range of the latent continuum, thus theoretically means that most of the Malay lyrics songs were none extreme; most of them in the safe zone of hierarchy of love. Practically, the significant relationship between responses on Malay love song lyrics and willingness to help seeking suggests that those who were deeply affected by love songs were more willing to seek for counselling help.