Volunteer bias and personality traits in sexual standards research.

The effects of personality traits and volunteer bias in sexual standards research were studied. Two hundred and fifty-four subjects completed Jackson's Personality Research Form (PRF) and were subsequently sent either a sex or a control questionnaire. Return rates for the two groups were comparable. Also, the analyses of the PRF scores failed to show sex volunteers as having unique personality characteristics. These results are interpreted as grounds for rejecting the widely held stereotype that volunteers for sexual standards surveys are inevitably an atypical, deviant group. The possible limiting effects of age and method of soliciting information are discussed.