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Factors that influence the susceptibility of self-report inventories to distortion
The primary objective of the present study was to investigate
the susceptibility of self-report inventories to both
positive and negative distortion. Meta-analysis procedures
were used to quantitatively summarize relevant literature and
to demonstrate whether hypothesized moderator variables
influenced the fakability of identified self-report
inventories. A total of 126 articles with 270 independent
data points were analyzed. Results indicated that across
both positive and negative distortion, the overall effect of
distortion on self-report inventories was fairly large (5 =
.64; SDS = .67). The large standard deviation provided
sufficient evidence to conduct moderator analyses.
Hypothesized moderator variables included variables related
to item characteristics, the test-taking situation,
methodological variables, and individual differences.
Instructionally-induced distortion resulted in much larger
mean inventory scores and reduced criterion validity compared
to honest responding on self-report inventories indicating
that respondents can effectively distort responses when
instructed and the distortion appears to have negative
consequences for the predictive capability of the inventory.
Real-life motivational distortion resulted in small mean
differences compared to honest responding suggesting that the
distortion of self-report inventories in applied settings may
not be a major concern. The present study also found that
the use of warning instructions in applied settings may be a
very effective method of reducing response distortion on
self-report inventories. Type of design used and specificity
of instructional sets were two methodological variables which
seemed to moderate the amount of distortion occurring on
self-report inventories. However, the hypothesized effects
of two other instructional set characteristics (i.e.,
positivity and overtness of instructions) were not supported.
Conclusions, unfortunately, could not be made about several
proposed moderating variables (e.g., item subtlety and
verifiability, intelligence) due to insufficient data.
Implications of the findings for researchers and
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Includes bibliographical references: pages 152-172.