Courtesy Bias

Courtesy bias is a form of response bias, the general tendency of a person answering a survey or interview question to respond inaccurately, in which a person hesitates to fully voice dissatisfaction with a service or product out of an attempt to remain polite or courteous toward whoever is asking. Response bias broadly can significantly damage the accuracy of a questionnaire's results, and because affected surveys often still show high statistical reliability, the bias can create a false sense of confidence in what the data actually show. Research has found courtesy bias to be especially prominent in some cultural contexts, including among Asian and Hispanic populations, and it appears frequently in qualitative research; it has been identified, for example, as a contributor to the underreporting of disrespectful treatment during childbirth in studies of medical facilities, since patients being interviewed may soften their true assessment out of politeness toward the person asking.