On the efficacy of psychological separation to address common method variance: Experimental evidence and a guiding research design framework.

Abstract

Common method variance (CMV) substantially impacts how scholars conduct and review research. Several procedural and statistical remedies have been proposed to address the potential biasing effects that can result from CMV in data procured from a single source on a single occasion. Among them, temporal separation and distinct source designs have been the most popular. Psychological separation (PS) has also been proposed as a way to address CMV, by diverting respondents' attention from previously accessed memories, disrupting response consistency patterns, and improving effortful responding. The present research attempted to create efficacious PS through a cognitive interference task administered midway through a survey, thereby attenuating correlations that could be affected by CMV to varying degrees. In an initial study and a constructive replication, our results show that a PS intervention of at least 7.5-min attenuated several relationships to levels significantly lower than those in a single source on a single occasion design, but to an extent consistent with the attenuation achieved by temporal separation or distinct source designs. These findings suggest that under appropriate circumstances, PS is an effective strategy to address certain forms of CMV. We conclude by providing a decision guide for responsibly choosing a research design in light of various theoretical, methodological, and logistical considerations, as well as offering several additional PS task examples that can be deployed in future studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).