Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, Vol 55(3), Jul 2023, 198-209; doi:10.1037/cbs0000308
Online surveys are a popular source of data collection across organizations and academic settings. Insufficient effort responding (IER) to surveys occurs when participants fail to carefully read survey instructions or item content. Researchers commonly analyze IER as a methodological nuisance. The purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which negative emotions and thoughts predict proactive and reactive IER indicators. A sample of 625 participants completed an online survey containing a background questionnaire, the agreeableness and conscientiousness subscales of the Mini-International Personality Item Pool, the intrinsic motivation subscale of the Situational Motivational Scale, the Boredom Proneness Scale, and three proactive and six reactive IER indices. Binary logistic regression analysis results showed participants who experienced higher levels of state anxiety, distress, and sadness while completing the survey were more likely to not pay attention and/or violate test instructions. Participants who indicated they regretted agreeing to participate in the survey, were more likely to not pay attention, respond dishonestly, respond too quickly, and/or self-report that they had exerted little effort and attention. These findings suggest that IER behaviors are, in part, a manifestation of participants’ negative emotions and thoughts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)