Plumbing the depths of the bogus pipeline: A reprise

Several years ago a debate appeared in this journal concerning the utility of the “bogus pipeline” attitude measurement technique. Cherry, Byrne, and Mitchell (Journal of Research in Personality, 1976, 10, 69–75) found that the bogus pipeline technique was vulnerable to demand characteristics, especially among persons high in social desirability. However, Gaes, Quigley-Fernandez, and Tedeschi (Journal of Research in Personality, 1978, 12, 189–192) criticized this study on methodological grounds. The present conceptual replication failed entirely to produce the Cherry et al. finding; indeed, the present data show a tendency for responsiveness to demand characteristics only among subjects responding via “paper and pencil.” This finding is consistent with the traditional conceptualization of the bogus pipeline procedures and supports the meaningfulness of data obtained using the technique within the impression management literature. Interestingly, social desirability did not enter in any way into the effects; this fact raises some intriguing questions about the social desirability construct itself.