The Specificity of Acquiescence

Summary In one study 123 Ss were given a variety of balanced personality and attitude scales which could be scored for both content and acquiescence. Acquiescence scores were not substantially correlated with either main content or each other. A second study provided evidence for content-specific, but not format-specific, acquiescence. Acquiescence from different scales remained uncorrelated even when the scales had a common format and their items were interfiled. Acquiescence scores from two parts of the same scale were positively related even when the two parts had distinct formats and their items were not interfiled. It appears that acquiescence is neither general nor format-specific, and it cannot be indexed on one test by measuring it on another.