Response Set in the Measurement of Stimulation-Seeking

Abstract

The effect of social desirability response set on a measure of individual differences in stimulation—seeking—the Sensation-Seeking Scale—was studied in a 2 × 3 × 5 design consisting of factors of sex, instructions (fake good, fake bad, and control) and five subscales, with 15 undergraduate Ss per cell, making a total of 90 Ss. No significant effect of instructions was found, nor were any interactions of any variables significant. However, a significant (p < .01) main effect associated with sex was obtained, with males scoring significantly higher than females. In addition, a significant (p < .01) main effect of subscales was found, indicating significant variation among subscale means. It was concluded that response set, as aroused, was not a significant factor in this measure.

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