The tendency to omit items: Another deviant response characteristic

Abstract

It is argued that the tendency to omit items is a deviant response characteristic. Three studies are outlined and it is concluded that persons who omitted items on an inventory purporting to measure self-actualization did so because of fatigue, confusion with some items, because they were not prepared to disclose information, and/or because they may not have trusted the researcher with certain information. © 1983, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.