Neurotics Avoid Ideological Questions Due to Error Aversion

Surveys and Nonresponse: Survey nonresponse often occurs when individuals refuse to answer questions. This is especially true for politically sensitive topics, such as placing politicians on an ideological scale.

The Problem: Why do people not respond? We suggest it might be related to their personality traits, specifically neuroticism — a tendency toward negative emotions and sensitivity to stress.

• Individuals high in neuroticism are more prone to anxiety about potential errors or negative evaluations when responding to survey questions.
• They may avoid forming opinions on stimuli (like political ideologies) due to this apprehension.

Our Findings: Using data from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we demonstrate that:

• Neuroticism is strongly linked to increased NA/DK responses when rating politicians' ideologies. Higher neuroticism means more uncertainty in answers.

The New Model: We introduce a Bayesian hierarchical model for political science research. This statistical approach allows us to disentangle nonresponse caused by lack of information from that resulting from disincentives (like fear of error).

• The model helps identify the underlying reasons driving survey responses or their absence.

Implications: Our analysis shows these NA/DK answers are likely reflecting inhibited information gathering and decision-making processes among highly neurotic respondents, rather than simply a lack of knowledge.