Acquiescence in quality-of-life interviews with adults who have mental retardation

Acquiescence was studied in a group of 616 persons with mental retardation. When an item-reversal technique with four pairs of oppositely worded questions was used, 11.1% to 36.3% of respondents answered acquiescently. The rates of acquiescence were much lower than we expected on the basis of the results of Sigelman, Budd, Spanhel, and Schoenrock (1981). No significant correlations between acquiescence and level of mental retardation were found. Women acquiesced more than men did. A significant relation was found between acquiescence and gender combination of an interviewee and an interviewer.