Methods of coping with social desirability bias: A review

Factor Analytic Procedures for Assessing Social Desirability in Binary Items

This article proposes and describes factor-analytic procedures for assessing and controlling socially desirable responding in binary personality items. The basic procedures are applications of the restricted (confirmatory) item factor analysis model for ordered-categorical variables. Orthogonal and oblique solutions based on marker variables are discussed. Next, the basic procedures are extended so that validity relations with external non-test variables can be assessed. Two empirical applications are given, and the substantive implications of the results are discussed.

Is the Implicit Association Test Immune to Faking?

Abstract. One of the main advantages of measures of automatic cognition is supposed to be that they are less susceptible to faking than explicit tests. It is an empirical question, however, to what degree these measures can be faked, and the response might well differ for different measures. We tested whether the Implicit Association Test (IAT, Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998 ) cannot be faked as easily as explicit measures of the same constructs. We chose the Big-Five dimensions conscientiousness and extraversion as the constructs of interest. The results show, indeed, that the IAT is much less susceptible to faking than questionnaire measures are, even if no selective faking of single dimensions of the questionnaire occurred. However, given limited experience, scores on the IAT, too, are susceptible to faking.

Social desirability of subtle and blatant prejudice scales

The present paper analyzes the relation between the measurement of subtle and blatant prejudice proposed by Pettigrew and Meertens in 1995 and the tendency to give socially desirable responses. It also tests whether items that measure subtle prejudice are judged as more socially desirable than those that measure blatant prejudice. Data were obtained from two groups, one of 497 Italian high school students and one of 77 university students. In the first case, the analysis concerns the relation between the prejudice scores and scores on a shortened form of Marlowe and Crowne's Social Desirability Scale. In the second case, we analyzed the social desirability judgments expressed on single items of the Petrigrew and Meertens scales. Analyses indicate that (1) neither Subtle nor Blatant Prejudice scores correlate with the tendency to give socially desirable responses and (2) when the items of the two prejudice scales are placed in order on the social desirability continuum, with very few exceptions the Blatant Prejudice items are situated at the not socially acceptable pole and Subtle Prejudice items at the socially acceptable pole.

To work or not to work: nonfinancial employment commitment and the social desirability bias

The so-called "lottery question," which asks whether individuals would stop or continue working if there were no economic reasons to do so, was used to evaluate non-financial employment commitment. Data were collected through a survey conducted among a representative sample of the adult population in Israel. The sample included 501 respondents, who were interviewed via telephone in their homes by professional interviewers from a national survey agency. The additional contribution of social desirability to the prediction of nonfinancial employment commitment, beyond the contribution of age, is significant. There is a higher likelihood of indicating a desire to continue working under conditions of high social desirability rather than under those of low social desirability. It is suggested that, in order to examine the actual scope of nonfinancial employment commitment, some measures of detecting or reducing the social desirability bias should be taken.

Socially desirable responding and impression management in the endorsement of love styles

In 2 experiments, the researcher investigated the social desirability of different love styles (Eros, Ludus, Storge, Pragma, Mania, and Agape). In Experiment 1, the Marlowe-Crowne measure of social desirability (D. P. Crowne & D. Marlowe, 1960) was correlated negatively with possessive, dependent (Mania) love styles in both men and women. In men, social desirability was correlated positively with romantic, passionate love (Eros) and game-playing love (Ludus), but negatively with all-giving, selfless love (Agape). In women, social desirability was correlated positively with Agape, but negatively with Ludus. In Experiment 2, the researcher replicated these findings using an impression management manipulation (good, bad, and honest responding). The gender differences in social desirability of different love styles are explained in terms of traditional and nontraditional gender role socialization.

A PSYCHOSOCIAL PORTRAIT OF DEFENSIVE RESPONDERS IN THE QUEBEC LONGITUDINAL STUDY ON AGING

The objective of this study was to identify the psychosocial characteristics of participants who obtained a high social desirability score on the measures in the Quebec Longitudinal Study on Aging (QUELSA). Two groups were drawn from the 1997 QUELSA sample (n=780) according to the scores obtained on a social desirability scale (high or low). These two groups were compared on the scores obtained on the main psychosocial variables of the QUELSA. The results show that individuals who give desirable responses tend to obtain higher scores on instruments measuring “self-image” features. Consequences of this bias are discussed.

Smoking behavior among casino employees: self-report validation using plasma cotinine

The veracity of behavioral self-reports is often challenged, particularly when the motivation to avoid stigma and win social approval holds potential to introduce bias into the data collected. This study employed plasma cotinine tests to validate the self-reports of tobacco use collected from 3,841 casino employees as part of a comprehensive health survey. Rates of discordance were calculated by comparing employee self-reports with results from plasma colinine tests. This study provides evidence that casino employees can provide valid self-report data. Further, discordance rates of self-reported tobacco use vary according to operational definitions of tobacco use. These findings highlight the methodological importance of recognizing the inherent heterogeneity of smoking behavior.

A model of parental representations, second individuation, and psychological adjustment in late adolescence

This study examined the role that mental representations and the second individuation process play in adjustment during late adolescence. Participants between the ages of 18 and 22 were used to test a theoretical model exploring the various relationships among the following latent variables: Parental Representations, Psychological Differentiation, Psychological Dependence, Positive Adjustment, and Maladjustment. The results indicated that the quality of parental representations facilitates the second individuation process, which in turn facilitates psychological adjustment in late adolescence. Furthermore, the results indicated that the second individuation process mediates the influence that the quality of parental representations have on psychological adjustment in late adolescence. These findings are discussed in light of previous research in this area, and clinical implications and suggestions for future research are offered.

Self-Deceptive Enhancement and Impression Management correlates of EPQ-R dimensions

The Self-Deceptive Enhancement and Impression Management scales of the Paulhus (1991) Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding were correlated with the Psychoticism, Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Lie scales of the Eysenck EPQ-R (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991) in a student sample. Extraversion correlated positively and Neuroticism correlated negatively with Self-Deceptive Enhancement, whereas Psychoticism correlated negatively and the Lie scale correlated positively with Impression Management. These findings suggest that the EPQ-R scales are involved in different aspects of socially desirable responding. It was concluded that social desirability should not be controlled in measures of Extraversion and Neuroticism but it should be controlled in measures of Psychoticism.

Socially desirable responding and self-reported HIV infection risk behaviors among intravenous drug users

This study examined the extent to which self-report of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors might depend upon socially desirable response tendencies, and whether socially desirable responding might serve as a confounding variable in the study of risk behaviors and HIV serostatus. The subjects were 2885 intravenous drug users participating in the ALIVE study in Baltimore, Maryland. Participants completed an interview and were tested for HIV serostatus. The interview covered HIV risk behaviors, and included established scales to measure 'self-deception' and 'impression management', two separate dimensions of socially desirable responding. Seven items for each scale were scored true/false, with a summary score used for analysis. Scores on self-deception and impression management were inversely related to self-reports of sharing injection equipment, injecting at shooting galleries, and injecting more than once a day. Neither self-deception nor impression management was associated with cocaine use. Self-reported receptive anal intercourse was associated inversely with self-deception but not with impression management. HIV serostatus was not associated with social desirability, and statistically controlling for social desirability had a negligible impact on the magnitude of associations between risk behaviors and HIV serostatus. The results indicate that measures of social desirability may be used to ascertain sensitive areas of inquiry in interviews of intravenous drug users.

Social desirability of personality items as a predictor of endorsement: a cross-cultural analysis

Earlier studies using specialized instruments confirmed a positive relation between a personality item's desirability and its endorsement outside North America, but allowed for few conclusions about the strength of the relationship in non-Western societies and offered no explanations for the observed correlations. In Study 1 of this investigation, university students from Turkey (a country rich in non-Western cultural elements) were found to be as likely as their U.S. counterparts to describe themselves in socially desirable terms. Furthermore, the strength of the relationship between desirability and endorsement did not depend on their level of exposure to the English language or to Western concepts. Study 2 indicated that socially desirable traits were also the most common among students in Turkey (paralleling results with U.S. samples), in support of desirable traits' prevalence as an explanation for the desirability-endorsement correlation.

Situational and psychophysiological factors in psychologically induced pain

To investigate pain that occurs in the absence of painful stimulation, normal subjects were connected to a sham stimulator and were told that a headache could occur as a result of the electrical current they would receive. Half of the subjects who received this suggestion reported pain. The frequency and intensity of pain reports in a group which was given prior pain experience as a reference point in reporting pain and in a group which was exposed to a manipulation designed to reduce intentional deception were not significantly different from the pain reports of a group not exposed to these manipulations. The frequency of pain reports in subjects not connected to the sham stimulator but still asked to report pain was 25% which was significantly less than the frequency for subjects who were told there would be stimulation to the head. Pain ratings increased as the settings of the sham stimulator were increased. Subjects who reported pain had significantly fewer electrodermal responses to tones signaling them to prepare for a reaction time task. The results suggest that pain can be produced in the absence of peripheral stimulation. The pain does not appear to be due to intentional deception or the lack of a standard for comparison, but is strongly influenced by environmental cues. Psychophysiologically, pain responders were less attentive to signal stimuli.

The effects of social demand on breast self-examination self-report

The measurement of breast self-examination (BSE) adherence typically relies on verbal self-report. These studies systematically manipulated social demand within a face-to-face interview and examined the effects on self-reported BSE frequency. In Study 1, subjects (n = 37) received either a high-demand or a low-demand preface prior to being asked about BSE practice over the past year. Study 2 (n = 89) was a replication, with the addition of a no-preface (control) condition. Results from Study 1 indicated that although the conditions were comparable on demographic and breast cancer/BSE knowledge variables, the high-demand condition reported a significantly higher number of BSEs than the low-demand condition. An attenuation of this pattern was found in Study 2, with the control condition reporting a frequency between the low demand's and the high demand's reported frequencies. The implications for BSE intervention and prevalence research are discussed.

Social desirability and questioning children in dental research

The influence of social desirability on the results of a social dental investigation was examined in a survey of 320 15-yr-old children. Children with a lower level of schooling seemed to be more inclined to give social desirable answers. It appeared that the stronger the social desirability, the more satisfaction children tended to show with their dentist, the less they said they were afraid of him, but, surprisingly, the less responsible they felt for their dental health. Other measures were not influenced by social desirability: dental hygiene, perception of the quality of one's own teeth, knowledge about dental health, sources of information, and evaluation of the dentist's behavior. Also independent of social desirability were the measures of the amount of fluid sugar consumed, the child's obesity, and the actual dental health (DMFS, degree of treatment, P.H.P.). Several aspects of the meaning of social desirability in dental research are discussed.