Marissa just finished completing her new employee questionnaire form for a job in sales. Despite being a rather shy, introverted
person, Marissa checked all the areas that referred to her as a talkative and outgoing individual. She believes those extraverted characteristics are exactly what her new employer is looking for. Which concept is being illustrated?A) Participant biasB) The primacy effectC) Demand characteristicsD) The Rosenthal effect
Demand characteristics occur as participants or individuals change their characteristics (personality traits, options, qualities, etc.) based on the expectancies of another person. This phenomenon occurs in research as participants adapt to the expectations of the researcher but can also occur in other situations. Moreover, demand characteristics are related to unnatural behavior that emerges as individuals get clues or information about the expectancies of others.
Marissa's behavior illustrates demand characteristics because she is modifying her personality traits based on the expectations of the employer or company. Also, this is an unnatural behavior because she is shy and introverted but she answers she is extraverted in the questionnaire; this is likely because based on the information she had about the employer, she identified this employer is looking for extroverted candidates.
