A Strong Validation of the Crosswise Model Using Experimentally-Induced Cheating Behavior.
We constructed an online cheating paradigm that could be used to validate the Crosswise Model ( Yu, Tian, & Tang, 2008 ), a promising indirect questioning technique designed to control for socially desirable responding on sensitive questions. Participants qualified for a reward only if they could identify the target words from three anagrams, one of which was virtually unsolvable as shown on a pretest. Of the 664 participants, 15.5% overreported their performance and were categorized as cheaters. When participants were asked to report whether they had cheated, a conventional direct question resulted in a substantial underestimate (5.1%) of the known prevalence of cheaters. Using a CWM question resulted in a more accurate estimate (13.0%). This result shows that the CWM can be used to control for socially desirable responding and provides estimates that are much closer to the known prevalence of a sensitive personal attribute than those obtained using a direct question.
1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Düsseldorf, Germany.
Adrian
A
Hoffmann
1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Düsseldorf, Germany.
Birk
B
Diedenhofen
2 Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam and Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Bruno
B
Verschuere
1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Düsseldorf, Germany.
Jochen
J
Musch
D003163:Competitive Behavior; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012201:Reward; D012928:Social Desirability
Crosswise Model; cheating; randomized response technique; strong validation