IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/offsta/v31y2015i4p673-697n8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cultural Variations in the Effect of Interview Privacy and the Need for Social Conformity on Reporting Sensitive Information

Author

Listed:
  • Mneimneh Zeina M.

    (University of Michigan - Survey Research Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, U.S.A.)

  • Tourangeau Roger

    (Westat, 1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, U.S.A.)

  • Pennell Beth-Ellen

    (University of Michigan - Survey Research Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, U.S.A.)

  • Heeringa Steven G.

    (University of Michigan - Survey Research Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, U.S.A.)

  • Elliott Michael R.

    (University of Michigan - School of Public Health, Dept. of Biost., M4041 SPH II, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, U.S.A.)

Abstract

Privacy is an important feature of the interview interaction mainly due to its potential effect on reporting information, especially sensitive information. Here we examine the effect of third-party presence on reporting both sensitive and relatively neutral outcomes. We investigate whether the effect of third-party presence on reporting sensitive information is moderated by the respondent’s need for social conformity and the respondent’s country of residence. Three types of outcomes are investigated: behavioral, attitudinal, and relatively neutral health events. Using data from 22,070 interviews and nine countries in the cross-national World Mental Health Survey Initiative, we fit multilevel logistic regression to study reporting effects on questions about suicidal behavior and marital ratings, and contrast these with questions about having high blood pressure, asthma, or arthritis. We find that there is an effect of third-party presence on reporting sensitive information and no effect on reporting of neutral information. Further, the effect of the interview privacy setting on reporting sensitive information is moderated by the need for social conformity and the cultural setting.

Suggested Citation

  • Mneimneh Zeina M. & Tourangeau Roger & Pennell Beth-Ellen & Heeringa Steven G. & Elliott Michael R., 2015. "Cultural Variations in the Effect of Interview Privacy and the Need for Social Conformity on Reporting Sensitive Information," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 31(4), pages 673-697, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:offsta:v:31:y:2015:i:4:p:673-697:n:8
    DOI: 10.1515/jos-2015-0040
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/jos-2015-0040
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/jos-2015-0040?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Bernardi, 2006. "Associations between Hofstede’s Cultural Constructs and Social Desirability Response Bias," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 43-53, April.
    2. Gail Mitchell Hoyt & Frank J. Chaloupka, 1994. "Effect Of Survey Conditions On Self‐Reported Substance Use," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 12(3), pages 109-121, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Khadija Alsarhi & Rahma & Mariëlle J. L. Prevoo & Lenneke R. A. Alink & Judi Mesman, 2019. "Maternal Harsh Physical Parenting and Behavioral Problems in Children in Religious Families in Yemen," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Natalia M. Mintchik & Timothy A. Farmer, 2009. "Associations Between Epistemological Beliefs and Moral Reasoning: Evidence from Accounting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(2), pages 259-275, January.
    3. Cook, Philip J. & Moore, Michael J., 2000. "Alcohol," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 30, pages 1629-1673, Elsevier.
    4. Ximena Garcia-Rada & Heather E. Mann & Lars Hornuf & Matthias Sohn & Juan Tafurt & Edwin S. Iversen Jr & Dan Ariely, 2018. "The Adaptive Liar: An Interactionist Approach of Multiple Dishonesty Domains," CESifo Working Paper Series 7215, CESifo.
    5. Peter G. Moffatt & Simon A. Peters, 2004. "Pricing Personal Services: An Empirical Study of Earnings in the UK Prostitution Industry," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 51(5), pages 675-690, November.
    6. Raymond Fisman & Ilyana Kuziemko & Silvia Vannutelli, 2021. "Distributional Preferences in Larger Groups: Keeping up with the Joneses and Keeping Track of the Tails," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 1407-1438.
    7. Dima Jamali & Asem M. Safieddine & Myriam Rabbath, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Synergies and Interrelationships," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 443-459, September.
    8. Clark, Andrew & Etile, Fabrice, 2002. "Do health changes affect smoking? Evidence from British panel data," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 533-562, July.
    9. Ziggy Macdonald & Michael A. Shields, 2001. "The Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Occupational Attainment in England," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(271), pages 427-453, August.
    10. Ilyana Kuziemko & Michael I. Norton & Emmanuel Saez & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2015. "How Elastic Are Preferences for Redistribution? Evidence from Randomized Survey Experiments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1478-1508, April.
    11. Robert Kaestner, 1998. "Drug use and AFDC participation: Is there a connection?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 495-520.
    12. Tao Bai & Jialin Du & Angelo M. Solarino, 2018. "Performance of foreign subsidiaries “in” and “from” Asia: A review, synthesis and research agenda," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 607-638, September.
    13. William H Greene & Mark N Harris & Preety Srivastava & Xueyan Zhao, 2013. "Econometric Modelling of Social Bads," Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Working Paper series WP1305, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School.
    14. Abdul Basit & Zubair Hassan & Sharmila Sethumadhavan, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Success: Key Challenges Faced by Malaysian Women Entrepreneurs in 21st Century," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(9), pages 122-122, July.
    15. Fabrice Etilé, 2006. "Who does the hat fit? Teenager heterogeneity and the effectiveness of information policies in preventing cannabis use and heavy drinking," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(7), pages 697-718, July.
    16. William Greene & Mark N. Harris & Preety Srivastava & Xueyan Zhao, 2018. "Misreporting and econometric modelling of zeros in survey data on social bads: An application to cannabis consumption," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 372-389, February.
    17. repec:pbs:ecofin:2023-05 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Ziggy MacDonald & Michael Shields, "undated". "The Impact of Alcohol Use on Occupational Attainment and Wages," Discussion Papers in Public Sector Economics 98/8, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    19. Michelle Bonera & Elisabetta Corvi & Anna Paola Codini & Ruijing Ma, 2017. "Does Nationality Matter in Eco-Behaviour?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, September.
    20. Jeffrey DeSimone, 1999. "Illegal Drug Use and Labor Supply," Working Papers 9906, East Carolina University, Department of Economics.
    21. Foster Frempong, 2019. "Gender and Ethical Conduct of Hotel Employees in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 721-731, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:offsta:v:31:y:2015:i:4:p:673-697:n:8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.