The 16PF Fifth Edition Questionnaire has three Response Style Indices: Impression Management (IM), Infrequency (INF), and Acquiescence (ACQ). Reviewing all three scales provides data about test-taking response styles. If an examinee's score on any of the indices is extreme, the professional should generate hypotheses about the examinee's test-taking attitude and, if possible, review information concerning the examinee (e.g. background data, other test results, notes from previous interactions and discussions after the testing). In some cases, retesting may be necessary.

Impression Management (IM)

Impression Management is a bipolar scale. The items contributing to this scale are scored only on the IM scale and do not contribute to any of the primary personality scales.

IM is essentially a social-desirability scale, with high scores reflecting socially desirable responses and low scores reflecting willingness to admit undesirable attributes or behaviors. The item content reflects both socially desirable and undesirable behaviors or qualities.

High IM scores can reflect impression management (presenting oneself to others as tending to behave in desirable ways), or they can reflect an examinee's self-image as a person who behaves in desirable ways. In both cases, the possibility exists that the socially desirable responses might be more positive than the examinee's actual behavior (i.e., a form of response distortion that may be conscious or unconscious) or that the examinee really might behave in socially desirable ways (i.e., the response choices accurately reflect the person's behavior).

If an examinee's score exceeds a certain level (usually the 95th percentile for the high end of the IM scale and the 5th percentile for the low end), the professional should consider possible explanations for the extreme score. Depending on the reason for testing and the criticality of accurate test data, the professional might consider retesting, especially if deliberate distortion is suspected.

Infrequency (INF)

The INF scale consists of items taken from the full set of personality items in the 16PF Fifth Edition Questionnaire.

High scores on the INF scale indicate that an examinee answered a relatively large number of items in a way different from most people. Possible explanations for high INF scale scores include random responding, inability to decide, reactions to specific item content, reading or comprehension difficulties, or trying to avoid making the "wrong impressions".

High INF scorers choose the middle response (?) to the following kinds of items, most of which are true or false and offer distinct choices: "I have said things that hurt others' feelings"; "In a situation where I'm in charge, I feel comfortable giving people directions"; "I don't usually mind if my room is messy".

If an examinee's INF score is above the 95^th percentile or above another designated cutoff, the professional should try to determine why the uncertain response choice (?) was selected so frequently.

Acquiescence (ACQ)

The ACQ scale measures the tendency to answer "true" to an item, no matter what its content. The items are taken from the full set of personality items. As with other response style scales, scores above the 95^th percentile on the ACQ scale signify the possibility of an acquiescent response set. The testing professional should try to determine whether the high score reflects random, inconsistent, or indecisive responding, or a high need for approval.

Portions of this site were extracted from the 16PF Fifth Edition Administrator's Manual authored by Mary T. Russell, M.S., and Darcie Karol, M.A. Definitions of the Primary Factors and Global Factors were authored by Mary T. Russell, M.S., Heather E.P. Cattell, Ph.D., and IPAT staff.