Demand Characteristics

• these are all the clues in an experiment which convey to the participant the purpose of the research
• There are several research studies that enable participants to guess what a study is about and what is expected of them
• Participants can guess the purpose of the research and try to please the researcher by giving the ‘ right ‘ results
• Participants can guess the purpose of the research and try to annoy the researcher by giving the wrong results; this is called the ‘ screw you effect ’
• Participants can act unnaturally out of the nervousness or fear of evaluation
• Participants can act unnaturally due to the social desirability bias