Why do we give false survey responses?

The 

Response Bias

, explained.
Bias

What is Response Bias?

The response bias refers to our tendency to provide inaccurate, or even false, answers to self-report questions, such as those asked on surveys or in structured interviews.

Where this bias occurs

Researchers who rely on participant self-report methods for data collection are faced with the challenge of structuring questionnaires in a way that increases the likelihood of respondents answering honestly. Take, for example, a researcher investigating alcohol consumption on college campuses through a survey administered to the student population. In this case, a major concern would be ensuring that the survey is neutral and non-judgmental in tone. If the survey comes across as disapproving of heavy alcohol consumption, respondents may be more likely to underreport their drinking, leading to biased survey results.

Sources

  1. Cronbach, L. J. (1942). Studies of acquiescence as a factor in the true-false test. Journal of Educational Psychology, 33(6), 401–415. doi:10.1037/h0054677
  2. Gove, W. R., and Geerken, M. R. (1977). "Response bias in surveys of mental health: An empirical investigation". American Journal of Sociology. 82(6), 1289–1317. doi:10.1086/226466
  3. Furnham, Adrian (1986). "Response bias, social desirability and dissimulation". Personality and Individual Differences. 7(3), 385–400. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(86)90014-0
  4. Knäuper, Bärbel, and Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich (1994). "Diagnosing major depression in the elderly: Evidence for response bias in standardized diagnostic interviews?". Journal of Psychiatric Research. 28(2), 147–164. doi:10.1016/0022-3956(94)90026-4
  5. Surguladze, S. A., Young, A. W., Senior, C., Brébion, G., Travis, M. J., & Phillips, M. L. (2004). Recognition Accuracy and Response Bias to Happy and Sad Facial Expressions in Patients With Major Depression. Neuropsychology, 18(2), 212–218. doi:10.1037/0894-4105.18.2.212
  6. See 5

About the Authors

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Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

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Dr. Sekoul Krastev

Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.

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