Cultural Differences in Questionnaire Responding

Whether conducted internationally or within the same nation, cross-cultural research relies heavily on questionnaires and surveys. However, analysts often wonder whether responses generated by respondents from different cultural contexts mean the same thing. Cultural background may shape how different people use the same response scales. Likewise, self-report questions might elicit tendencies that interfere with what a survey researcher might want to know. In other cases, culture might influence as to whether respondents provide answers to the question as stated in the text, or if they are inclined to tailor their answer based on the specific context in which the question is being asked. And yet in other cases, participants’ answers may differ as a function of whether a question appears early or late in the same survey.

The present Special Section aims to bring together contemporary research that tackles problems of survey responding in a cross-cultural context. The focus is on issues, which have the potential of compromising cultural comparisons, yet which may also be of interest as cultural phenomena in their own right. Issues include, but are not limited to, acquiescent responding, disaquiescent responding, extreme responding, middling responding, socially desirable responding and context-driven responding. Papers may wish to diagnose cultural response tendencies, broadly construed, and demonstrate the consequences for conclusions about cultural differences. Similarly, papers may wish to propose new approaches in how to deal with various response tendencies, either at the stage of questionnaire design or the analysis of self-report data. Papers are also encouraged if they examine the predictors of cultural response tendencies, or demonstrate the conditions under which they are present or absent. Both theoretical and empirical contributions will be considered.

Manuscripts should be no longer than 6,000 words (including footnotes, references, tables, and figures, but excluding the abstract), have no more than 30 references, and include a 200-word abstract. If warranted (e.g., when reporting a coherent series of multiple studies) longer manuscripts may be considered, but authors are encouraged to contact the special section editor. Manuscripts are expected to follow standard guidelines of the International Journal of Psychology (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291464-066X/homepage/ForAuthors.html). Submissions will be peer-reviewed.

To ensure the suitability of a manuscript for the special section, authors should send an abstract (300-500 words) to reach the Guest Editor, Markus Kemmelmeier (markusk@unr.edu) by December 15, 2014, before submitting the complete manuscript. Manuscripts must be submitted in electronic form via IJP’s website (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pijp).

Deadline for paper submissions is April 30, 2015.

Papers acceptable for publication that cannot be published in this special section may be considered for publication in a regular issue of the International Journal of Psychology, unless authors explicitly decline this option.