A General Factor-Analytic Procedure for Assessing Response Bias in Questionnaire Measures

This article proposes procedures for simultaneously assessing and controlling acquiescence and social desirability in questionnaire items. The procedures are based on a semirestricted factor-analytic tridimensional model, and can be used with binary, graded-response, or more continuous items. We discuss procedures for fitting the model (item calibration) and for estimating the individual factor scores. We also show how the results can be used and interpreted in applied research. The procedures are illustrated with 2 empirical applications in the personality domain.