Depending on the stage of your career, you may be looking to move to a less challenging position than you have held in the past.
  When this is the intent, your answer to the question of why you want less responsibility needs to be convincing and clear in fitting your qualifications to the job you are considering.
  When you intend to move down in the scale of challenges, the question implies that the interviewer sees a wide discrepancy in compensation between where you have been and where you want to go.
  It also raises the real possibility of being eliminated because of the perception that you are over qualified for the opening, burning out in your enthusiasm for upward mobility, or looking for work due to failure in your higher level capacity.
Many interviewers will go through the motions of listening to what you say, but make their decision on the perception that you will not be happy enough in the position to stay very long.
Regardless of any negative reasons why you might be seeking to be employed at a lower level than your past or present experience seems to indicate, there are many positive possibilities to exploit when taking a step back.
  One of the best explanations you can give for moving down in responsibility is that you have determined this type of position to be what you truly enjoy doing.
  There is no shame in saying no thank you to higher levels of effort and responsibility if they are not a fit for your personal desire.
  Use your skills and experience to show how you already have what it takes to do the job you want to do, along with a top down, rather than a bottom up perspective on how to excel in the position.
If you want to land the job, you have to hit hard and fast to change the mood of the conversation to your favor.
  It helps to have a similar position in your past experience that you can use to leverage why you want to return to those good old days of job satisfaction doing what you liked best.
  Minimize any negative comments about any higher levels of responsibility that you no longer want to pursue, and put the magnifying glass on what you want to do now.
If you do not think the interview can be salvaged, you can try a weaker approach that might lead to an opportunity.
  As a general rule, it is not a good idea to interview for one job in a company, while setting your sights on a different kind of position.
  You should always apply for the position you want, and stay focused on that objective.
  However, when an interviewer thinks you are too far off the mark, you can try to open up alternatives by saying, "I applied for this position because it sounded like a good direction for me to take, but from your perspective, do you see me doing something different for your company?" This response is effective on a variety of levels.
  It tells the interviewer once more that you have no problem seeing yourself performing the job currently on the table, but forces a more specific response about where they see a disparity, and what they see as a fit for you in their organization.
  On another level, the response opens the way for a more open discussion of their impression about your skills.
  Asking if there is something else you might do creates the risk of being told that there are more suitable positions for you in the company, but unfortunately, none of them are currently available.
Try not to allow the interview to end without doing all you can to get some kind of offer from the company.
  If they do not presently have a position they think you would be more suited for, then suggest that they hire you for the opening they do have until an opportunity becomes available.
  The only real candidate objective in an interview is to get a job offer.
  If you are not succeeding in getting the offers, you are missing a key ingredient that you need to find.
  It is better to spend your time considering whether or not to accept offers than working to determine why you were not selected, and how to correct the problems.