title: Who cares and who is careless? Insufficient effort responding as a reflection of respondent personality.
abstract: Insufficient effort responding (IER) to surveys, which occurs when respondents fail to carefully read questionnaire instructions or item content, has recently gained attention as a source of inaccuracy in self-report data (Huang, Curran, Keeney, Poposki, & DeShon, 2012; Johnson, 2005; Maniaci & Rogge, 2014; Meade & Craig, 2012). Whereas previous studies have focused on IER as a methodological nuisance, the current studies examined IER as a substantive variable. Specifically, we hypothesized that IER is a reflection of enduring individual differences. In Study 1, we found that IER displayed rank-order consistency over the course of 13 months; in Studies 2 and 3, we found that IER displayed rank-order consistency across multiple research situations; in Study 4, we found that acquaintance-reported conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability were each negatively related to IER; and in Study 5, we found that IER was related to college grade point average and class absences. Together, these 5 studies suggest that IER is in part a manifestation of enduring individual differences. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Nathan A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Bowling
authors.affiliation: School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, Michigan State University.
authors.forename: Jason L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Science, Central Connecticut State University.
authors.forename: Caleb B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Bragg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wright State University.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khazon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wright State University.
authors.forename: Mengqiao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wright State University.
authors.forename: Caitlin E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Blackmore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult