scholarly journals Descriptive consistency and social desirability in self‐and peer reports

1989 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Borkenau ◽  
Fritz Ostendorf
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Desirability ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Socially Desirable Responding ◽  
Personality Inventories ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Peer Reports

In the present study, 300 subjects were administered 20 sets of four trait‐descriptive terms where aspects of content and evaluation were unconfounded (e.g. firm, severe, lenient, and lax). Each subject was also evaluated by three peers using the same sets of four trait terms. Moreover, the subjects responded to several personality inventories and rating scales, and they were also described on these rating scales by their peers. The results showed that the subjects frequently ascribed to themselves or to their peers two favourable trait terms that were descriptively inconsistent (e.g. firm, lenient). A measure of individual differences in socially desirable responding was constructed by summing all desirable responses. Subjects who described themselves in a socially desirable manner were less neurotic and more conscientious according to self‐reports as well as peer reports. Several implications of the findings are discussed, and the present SD measure is compared with several well‐known desirability scales.

Telling What They Want to Know

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 426-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Kemmelmeier
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Desirability ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
Socially Desirable Responding ◽  
The Future ◽  
Researcher Identity

According to a conversational approach, survey respondents provide answers they believe to be relevant to an interaction. Norenzayan and Schwarz (1999) demonstrated that participants provide dispositional accounts for an action to a personality researcher, but contextual accounts to a social scientist. Two studies sought to replicate this finding and test if the effects were due to social desirability. Using original materials, Study 1 manipulated researcher identity and varied whether participants had reasons to explain the action (replication) or reasons that could not explain the action (non-reasons). Study 2 varied researcher identity and asked participants what they want to be like in the future or what they do not want to be like in the future. Individual differences in socially desirable responding were also assessed. Results replicated original findings without social desirability qualifying critical effects. This confirms that participants provide the kinds of answers that they believe to be relevant to the researchers.

scholarly journals Social Desirability in Spouse Ratings

2018 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 593-608
Author(s):  
Vaka Vésteinsdóttir ◽  
Eva D. Steingrimsdottir ◽  
Adam Joinson ◽  
Ulf-Dietrich Reips ◽  
Fanney Thorsdottir
Keyword(s):  
Social Desirability ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Openness To Experience ◽  
Socially Desirable Responding ◽  
Social Desirability Scale ◽  
External Criterion ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Observer Ratings ◽  
One Year ◽  
Do So

Whether or not socially desirable responding is a cause for concern in personality assessment has long been debated. For many researchers, McCrae and Costa laid the issue to rest when they showed that correcting for socially desirable responding in self-reports did not improve the agreement with spouse ratings on the Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience Personality Inventory. However, their findings rest on the assumption that observer ratings in general, and spouse ratings in particular, are an unbiased external criterion. If spouse ratings are also susceptible to socially desirable responding, correcting for the bias in self-rated measures cannot be assumed to increase agreement between self-reports and spouse ratings, and thus failure to do so should not be taken as evidence for the ineffectiveness of measuring and correcting for socially desirable responding. In the present study, McCrae and Costa’s influential study was replicated with the exception of measuring socially desirable responding with the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale, in both self-reports and spouse ratings. Analyses were based on responses from 70 couples who had lived together for at least one year. The results showed that both self-reports and spouse ratings are susceptible to socially desirable responding and thus McCrae and Costa’s conclusion is drawn into question.

scholarly journals Social desirability and consensual validity of personality traits

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 549-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenn Konstabel ◽  
Toivo Aavik ◽  
Jüri Allik
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Social Desirability ◽  
Socially Desirable Responding ◽  
Person Description ◽  
Desirability Index ◽  
Peer Reports ◽  
Suppressor Variable ◽  
Better Than

The effect of socially desirable responding (SDR) on the consensual validity of personality traits was studied. SDR was operationalized as the sum of items weighted by their respective social desirability values (Social Desirability Index, SDI), which could be computed for both self‐ and peer‐reports. In addition, the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) was used as a measure of SDR. It was shown that both self‐peer and peer‐peer agreement rose significantly for most studied traits when SDI was controlled in both self‐ and peer‐reports. BIDR was a significant suppressor variable in only one of the analyses involving Neuroticism. The SDI detected faking on personality scales somewhat better than the BIDR scales. It is argued that the SDI is a measure of evaluativeness of a person description, and that people agree more on descriptive than on evaluative aspects of a target's personality traits. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Idiographically Desirable Responding: Individual Differences in Perceived Trait Desirability Predict Overclaiming

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 580-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven G. Ludeke ◽  
Yanna J. Weisberg ◽  
Colin G. Deyoung
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Peer Ratings ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Performance Based Assessment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Peer Reports

Objective Conventional measures of self–report bias implicitly assume consistent patterns of overclaiming across individuals. We contrast this with the effects of individual differences in views of trait desirability on overclaiming, which we label idiographically desirable responding (IDR). Method We obtained self–reports and peer reports of trait levels on mixed–sex samples of undergraduates (N = 352) and middle–aged community members (N = 541), with an additional performance–based assessment in the latter sample. Results Compared to conventional measures of bias, individual differences in trait desirability ratings identified an independent and comparatively large amount of the variance in overclaiming for personality and physical attractiveness. The importance of IDR was confirmed by the replication of these results for intelligence, for which both peer–ratings and performance data were available. Individuals differed in the extent to which they rely on IDR, with these differences indexed by the correlation between views of the desirability of a given trait and the extent to which one overclaimed that trait. Individuals who were more prone to overclaim in this fashion exhibited higher self–esteem as well as higher scores on questionnaire measures of socially desirable responding. Conclusion Overclaiming of traits resulted both from the patterns of biases identified by conventional overclaiming measures and from individual differences in perceptions of what traits are most desirable. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology

scholarly journals Wetzel, Frick, & Brown (2020)_Does multidimensional forced-choice prevent faking?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunike Wetzel ◽  
Susanne Frick ◽  
Anna Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Desirability ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Total N ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Latent Mean Differences ◽  
Mean Differences ◽  
Fake Good

A common concern with self-reports of personality traits in selection contexts is faking. The multidimensional forced-choice (MFC) format has been proposed as an alternative to rating scales (RS) that could prevent faking. The goal of this study was to compare the susceptibility of the MFC format and RS format to faking in a simulated high-stakes setting when using normative scoring for both formats. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups (total N = 1,867) and filled out the Big Five Triplets once under an honest instruction and once under a fake-good instruction. Latent mean differences between the honest and fake-good administrations indicated that the Big Five domains were faked in the expected direction. Faking effects for all traits were larger for RS compared to MFC. Faking effects were also larger for the MFC version with mixed triplets compared to the MFC version with triplets that were fully matched regarding their social desirability. The MFC format does not prevent faking completely, but it reduces faking substantially. Faking can be further reduced in the MFC format by matching the items presented in a block regarding their social desirability.

Evidence of an Indirect Effect of Generativity on Fear of Death Through Ego-Integrity Considering Social Desirability

2021 ◽  
pp. 003022282110531
Author(s):  
Holger Busch
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Social Desirability ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Implicit Associations ◽  
Socially Desirable Responding ◽  
Ego Integrity ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Implicit Associations Test

Recent research has shown an indirect effect of generativity on fear of death through ego-integrity in older adults. The present paper aims at demonstrating that the indirect effect is valid even when controlling for social desirability. For that purpose, participants ( N = 260 German adults) in study 1 provided self-reports on generativity, ego-integrity, fear of death, and social desirability. Analyses confirmed the indirect effect when the tendency for socially desirable responding was statistically controlled. In study 2, participants ( N = 133 German adults) also reported on their generativity and ego-integrity. Fear of death, however, was assessed with a reaction time-based measure (i.e., the Implicit Associations Test). Again, the indirect effect could be confirmed. Taken together, the studies lend further credibility to the extant findings on the indirect effect of generativity on fear of death through ego-integrity.

Assessing Social Desirability in Family Self-Report

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary A. Fristad
Keyword(s):  
Social Desirability ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Family Assessment ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Pencil And Paper ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Suppressor Variable

This study focused on social desirability in family members' self-reports. 32 clinical families (93 family members) were given self-report measures from the McMaster and Circumplex family-assessment models and a measure of social desirability. Clinicians assessed these families on clinical rating scales from the same models. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between self-reports, social desirability scores, and clinicians' ratings. It was expected that social desirability would be a suppressor variable (i.e., when accounted for, the similarity between clinicians' and family members' ratings would be enhanced). This did not occur; instead, social desirability was significantly but negatively correlated with ratings of pathology. Results provide evidence that correcting for social desirability on clinical pencil-and-paper tests is not supported.

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