Abstract
PurposeThis paper aims to address the issue of survey distortion caused by one of the most common and pervasive sources of bias, namely social desirability bias (SDB). Despite 50 years of research, there are still many unanswered questions about its conceptualisation and operationalisation. The authors argue that traditional measures of SDB are inadequate and that the context in which the research is being conducted should be reflected in the measures employed. Hence, the authors develop and validate a multi‐dimensional scale that may be used to measure the degree of SDB present in responses to giving surveys.Design/methodology/approachFollowing initial scale development procedures a convenience sample of 820 donors to a national charity was employed to refine the resultant scale items. Exploratory factor analysis and reliability tests were conducted to establish the dimensionality of the new scale and its reliability. Using a separate sample of 1,500 active donors, the scale was then subject to confirmatory procedures to test its predictive validity.FindingsThe findings support the assertion that SDB is a multi‐dimensional construct consisting of six dimensions. However, in the context of postal surveys it is found that self‐deception and the degree of intrinsic benefit accruing to a donor are the primary determinants of the level of SDB an individual will exhibit. The authors also highlight the significance of the SDB issue since in the survey reported here, 65 per cent of respondents were found to over‐report their giving.Originality/valueThis is one of the first published studies that has been able to explore the predictive validity of a SDB scale. The work has expanded our understanding of the determinants of SDB and provided an instrument that may now be employed to reduce a significant proportion of this error in giving surveys.
Highlights
As nonprofit practitioners become increasingly concerned about the accuracy of surveys measuring charitable giving (MacQuillin, 2005), empirical analyses of the quality and comparability of data on charitable giving are beginning to emerge (Rooney et al, 2004; Wilhelm, 2007)
This paper aims to address the issue of survey distortion caused by one of the most common and pervasive sources of bias, namely social desirability bias (SDB)
In this study we have developed and validated a new measure of SDB, for use in the context of giving surveys
Summary
As nonprofit practitioners become increasingly concerned about the accuracy of surveys measuring charitable giving (MacQuillin, 2005), empirical analyses of the quality and comparability of data on charitable giving are beginning to emerge (Rooney et al, 2004; Wilhelm, 2007). We answer this call by developing a scale capable of detecting individuals likely to give socially desirable responses when reporting their charity giving behaviour. In the context of giving we posit: H3: The higher the level of involvement that donors experience with their giving (to charity X) the greater will be the degree of their socially desirable responding in giving surveys. Data was obtained from a three-page mail questionnaire sent to 1500 active donors including the initial 19 items developed to measure the effects of socially desirable responding. This sample was obtained from a leading animal welfare charity in the UK. Extant research has provided inconsistent results in respect of whether age and gender has any impact on the likelihood and/or degree of social desirability bias (Snell et al, 1999; Ray and Lovejoy, 2003)
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