The effects of demand characteristics on research participant behaviours in non-laboratory settings: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The concept of demand characteristics, which involves research participants being aware of what the researcher is investigating, is well known and widely used within psychology, particularly in laboratory-based studies. Studies of this phenomenon may make a useful contribution to broader consideration of the effects of taking part in research on participant behaviour. This systematic review seeks to summarise data from studies of the effects of demand characteristics on participant behaviours in non-laboratory settings. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Electronic databases were searched to identify eligible studies. These had to be purposely designed to evaluate possible effects of demand characteristics on at least one behavioural outcome under the autonomous control of the participants and use longitudinal study designs. Only 7 studies were included, 6 providing observational data and 1 experimental study, with 5 studies involving examination of possible effects on health behaviours. Although studies provided some evidence of effects of demand characteristics on participant behaviour, heterogeneous operationalisation of the construct, the limited number of studies and poor quality of study designs made synthesis and interpretation of study findings challenging. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although widely accepted as important in psychology, there have been few dedicated studies of the effects of demand characteristics on research participant behaviours outside laboratory settings. This body of literature does not currently contribute to the wider study of research participation effects. A systematic review of data from laboratory-based studies is needed, as are high-quality primary studies in non-laboratory settings. We suggest that unqualified use of the term demand characteristics should be abandoned.