Quotes About Response set

The problem of response set is particularly relevant to the F scale because all of the items were worded in the same direction. In other words, all items were worded so that agreement indicated a high (or prejudiced, fascist, authoritarianism) score. As a result, it was easy for researchers to demonstrate that the scale did not measure ideological content but only a tendency to agree—with anything.

In short, the scale encouraged a response set of positive answers. Instead of identifying genuine authoritarians, perhaps the F scale simply singled out some very agreeable persons without strong opinions.