The Context of Satisficing in Vignette Research

Abstract

Social psychologists use vignette experiments to study cognitive aspects of social interaction. The quality of data produced in vignette research can be enhanced by minimizing the tendency of subjects to satisfice in formulating their responses, that is, to cognitively process vignette information in a careless and ineffective way. This article draws from research on the cognitive aspects of survey measurement to clarify conditions likely to encourage satisficing and reports vignette experimental data obtained in a sample of American college students that demonstrate predicted context effects on satisficing.