This dissertation presents research aimed at investigating the status of
response styles as latent variables that are stable across different
questionnaires and can be encompassed by a general response style
factor and at identification of dispositional and situational factors that
can predict a participant's response style on self-rating questionnaires.
The response styles considered in this research are extreme response
style, acquiescence, disacquiescence, midpoint response style and
socially desirable responding. We used a convenience sample of 541
adult citizens of the Republic of Serbia (59,7% female), between 18
and 86 years of age (M = 38.25 years, SD = 15.30). Participants from
53 settlements were included in the sample with most of them coming
from three cities - Niš (32.3%), Užice (15%) and Belgrade (9.2%). As
for the interrelations among the response styles, findings of our
research are to a great extent in line with those found in the literature.
Socially desirable respond...ing was positively correlated with
acquiescence and negatively correlated with the midpoint response
style. Response style score stability across different questionnaires was
investigated by Pearson's correlation coefficient for pairs of response
styles estimates and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for
general concordance of these estimates. The results supported stability
of the response styles as measured by different means. We confirmed
the existence of a general response style with the extreme response
style, midpoint response style and socially desirable responding as its
indicators and discussed further directions of its investigation.
Differences in the response styles dependent on socio-demographic
variables are in accord with those reported in the literature. Based on
theoretical insights and empirical findings, a complex structural model
of the relations between the epistemological constructs and HEXACO
personality traits, on one side, and the response styles, on the other, was
defined with the general response style modelled hierarchically. The
results showed that the extreme response style, acquiescence,
disacquiescence and midpoint response style may vary depending on
the importance that a participant ascribes to a situation, as well as how
items are formulated.
