Item response tree (IRTree) models are recently introduced as an approach to modelingresponse data from Likert-type rating scales. IRTree models are particularly usefulto capture a variety of individuals’ behaviors involving in item responding. This studyemployed IRTree models to investigate response styles, which are individuals’ tendenciesto prefer or avoid certain response categories in a rating scale. Specifically, weintroduced two types of IRTree models, descriptive and explanatory models, perceivedunder a larger modeling framework, called explanatory item response models,proposed by De Boeck and Wilson. This extends the typical application of IRTreemodels for studying response styles. As a demonstration, we applied the descriptiveand explanatory IRTree models to examine acquiescence and extreme response stylesin Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale. Our findings suggested the presence of two distinctextreme response styles and acquiescence response style in the scale.