Utilizing the Potentials of Twin Studies to Improve Our Understanding of Satisficing Response Behaviour in Surveys

When answering survey questions, respondents may engage in satisficing response behaviour. Satisficing means not properly progressing through all steps of the cognitive response process. The proposed project extends the existing satisficing theory to include stable and dynamic characteristics of the respondent, situation, instrument, and culture and context of a survey. To disentangle the interactions in the relationship between these factors and response behaviour, the project utilizes the potentials of different international longitudinal twin studies. Building on the theoretical contributions and empirical findings of the project, solutions to improve survey questions are developed in order to mitigate satisficing.