Tired of Politics? Survey Satisficing and Respondent Exposure to Political Content

Abstract

In this study I examine the effects of exposure to political content on survey satisficing in the United States. I theorize that American political content, due in part to its affective dimension in the present U.S. context, will deplete respondents' cognitive resources more intensively than content with identical item design from nonpolitical topic domains, leading to increased satisficing. I present the results of two preregistered survey experiments conducted in 2024 on the YouGov (N = 3,600) and Prolific (N = 1,245) platforms. In both studies I experimentally manipulate the topic of question batteries, and measure satisficing through attention checks, timing, and the data quality of downstream question batteries. These studies provide evidence that exposure to political content can increase satisficing behavior among survey respondents. The studies show that researchers should take care in the ordering of their questionnaires when surveys include content that invokes political actors, political parties and ideologies.