The influence of response style on the Beck Hopelessness Scale.

Abstract
The influence of a desirability response set on the Beck Hopelessness scale was studied. Suicide ideators (41), 10 suicide attempters and 27 non-suicidal control patients of a crisis and short-term intervention unit answered a measure made up of randomly ordered items of the Hopelessness scale and the Desirability and Infrequency scales of the Personality Reseach Form. The high internal consistency of the Hopelessness Scale was attributable to considerable negative item-desirability correlations. There was support for a 1- rather than 3-factor solution, all dimensions having a substantial negative correlation with desirability. The need to sharpen the assessment of hopelessness so as to separate the construct of hopelessness from the tendency to view one''s condition unfavorably in a crisis situation was highlighted.

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