Faking it: Social desirability response bias in self-report research

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Author(s)
van de Mortel, Thea F
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2008
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Objective:
The tendency for people to present a favourable image
of themselves on questionnaires is called socially
desirable responding (SDR). SDR confounds research
results by creating false relationships or obscuring
relationships between variables. Social desirability (SD)
scales can be used to detect, minimise, and correct for
SDR in order to improve the validity of questionnairebased
research. The aim of this review was to
determine the proportion of health-related studies that
used questionnaires and used SD scales and estimate
the proportion that were potentially affected by SDR.
Methods:
Questionnaire-based research ...
View more >Objective: The tendency for people to present a favourable image of themselves on questionnaires is called socially desirable responding (SDR). SDR confounds research results by creating false relationships or obscuring relationships between variables. Social desirability (SD) scales can be used to detect, minimise, and correct for SDR in order to improve the validity of questionnairebased research. The aim of this review was to determine the proportion of health-related studies that used questionnaires and used SD scales and estimate the proportion that were potentially affected by SDR. Methods: Questionnaire-based research studies listed on CINAHL in 2004-2005 were reviewed. The proportion of studies that used an SD scale was calculated. The influence of SDR on study outcomes and the proportion of studies that used statistical methods to control for social desirability response bias are reported. Results: Fourteen thousand two hundred and seventy-five eligible studies were identified. Only 0.2% (31) used an SD scale. Of these, 43% found SDR influenced their results. A further 10% controlled for SDR bias when analysing the data. The outcomes in 45% of studies that used an SD scale were not influenced by SDR. Conclusions: While few studies used an SD scale to detect or control for SD bias, almost half of those that used an SD scale found SDR influenced their results. Recommendations: Researchers using questionnaires containing socially sensitive items should consider the impact of SDR on the validity of their research and use an SD scale to detect and control for SD bias.
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View more >Objective: The tendency for people to present a favourable image of themselves on questionnaires is called socially desirable responding (SDR). SDR confounds research results by creating false relationships or obscuring relationships between variables. Social desirability (SD) scales can be used to detect, minimise, and correct for SDR in order to improve the validity of questionnairebased research. The aim of this review was to determine the proportion of health-related studies that used questionnaires and used SD scales and estimate the proportion that were potentially affected by SDR. Methods: Questionnaire-based research studies listed on CINAHL in 2004-2005 were reviewed. The proportion of studies that used an SD scale was calculated. The influence of SDR on study outcomes and the proportion of studies that used statistical methods to control for social desirability response bias are reported. Results: Fourteen thousand two hundred and seventy-five eligible studies were identified. Only 0.2% (31) used an SD scale. Of these, 43% found SDR influenced their results. A further 10% controlled for SDR bias when analysing the data. The outcomes in 45% of studies that used an SD scale were not influenced by SDR. Conclusions: While few studies used an SD scale to detect or control for SD bias, almost half of those that used an SD scale found SDR influenced their results. Recommendations: Researchers using questionnaires containing socially sensitive items should consider the impact of SDR on the validity of their research and use an SD scale to detect and control for SD bias.
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Journal Title
Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing
Volume
25
Issue
4
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2008 Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Nursing
Nursing not elsewhere classified