A note on some item characteristics related to acquiescent responding

We proposed that the correlation between an item score and the total acquiescence score in a balanced scale is an index for measuring the extent to which the response to this item is affected by acquiescence. In an empirical study, which used the perceived stress scale, the values of this psychometric index were related to two objective ‘superficial structure’ characteristics: item length and item complexity. The items that were most affected by acquiescence according to the psychometric index were longer and more complex than the least affected items, in accordance with theoretical expectations.