Examining the mediating effect of motivation on the relationship between topic interest and response styles

Response styles (RS) refer to unconscious participant behaviors wherein certain response categories (e.g., middle category) are preferred over others when responding to statements on Likert-type scales. Within the scope of the current research, the acquiescence response style (ARS), wherein participants demonstrate a tendency to accept statements irrespective of their content, and the extreme response style (ERS), wherein participants show a tendency to prefer the extreme categories at the ends of the scale, are among the most recognized. While numerous individual and situational variables influencing RS have been examined in previous studies, there remains insufficient information regarding the impact of topic interest on RS. Therefore, the primary aim of the present research is to examine the mediating effect of motivation on the influence of topic interest on RS. Additionally, the study aims to explore whether situational variables within the research context moderate the impact of topic interest on RS. Three studies were conducted within the research framework. In the first study, initially an exploratory (Study 1a), then a descriptive study (Study 1b) were conducted to identify the least interesting topic (cryptocurrencies) and the most interesting topic (tourism-travel) for participants, followed by the development of RS scales related to these topics (Study 1c). In this study, a contentless RS scale which was unrelated to any specific topic, was also adopted. In the second study, using this contentless RS scale, the mediating effect of motivation on the influence of topic interest on RS was examined through two studies adopting an experimental causal chain design. It was found that topic interest had a positive effect on motivation (Study 2a), and motivation had a negative effect on ARS and a positive effect on ERS (Study 2b). Thus, the mediating effect of motivation on the influence of topic interest on RS was experimentally confirmed through studies ensuring randomness. Subsequently, a study (Study 2c) was conducted with a design allowing for a more detailed understanding of the relationships between these variables, revealing that topic interest had an indirect negative effect on ARS and an indirect positive effect on ERS, with motivation playing a full mediating role in this relationship. Study 2d subjected the same relationships to further testing using content-specific RS scales for relevant topics, thereby confirming the findings in a more ecologically valid context. In the first study (Study 3a) conducted in line with the sub-goal of the research, it was found that an increase in cognitive load increased ARS, but in cases where cognitive load was controlled, participants responding to scales with low topic interest had higher ARS scores. Conversely, it was observed that participants responding to scales with low topic interest had higher ARS scores when cognitive load was high. In the second study (Study 3b), it was found that scales with labeled final categories led to higher ERS compared to scales with all categories labeled, but participants responding to scales with low topic interest had higher ERS scores compared to those responding to scales with high topic interest. In the final study conducted within the scope of the research (Study 3c), the effect of processing fluency on ARS was examined. It was found that processing fluency did not have a main effect on ARS, but participants responding to scales with low topic interest had higher ARS scores when fluency was high, whereas participants responding to scales with high topic interest had higher ARS scores when fluency was low. It is believed that the findings of the study are of value to both practitioners and researchers.