The effects of different types of social desirability on the identification of repressors

Abstract

This study investigated whether different types of social desirability have an impact on the identification of repressors. In addition, it explored the relationship between the repressive coping style and various affect-related measures. Participants completed the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale [Crowne, D.P. & Marlowe, D.A. (1964). The approval motive: Studies in evaluative dependence. New York: Wiley] and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding [Paulhus, D. (1984). Two-component models of socially desirable responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 598–609], which differentiates between self-deceptive positivity (the tendency to give self-reports that are honest, but positively biased) and impression management (deliberately positive self-presentation). These, in conjunction with scores on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale [Taylor, J.A. (1953). A personality scale of manifest anxirty. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48, 285–290], allowed the generation of three 2×2 categorisations. Participants also completed measures of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI), rumination, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and coping. A series of ANOVAs showed that the repressor group scored significantly higher on trait EI, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and “healthy” coping styles, but lower on rumination and “unhealthy” coping styles. In almost every analysis, repressors were significantly different from the non-defensive/high anxious group. There was, however, little evidence to support the notion that different social desirability measures have differential impact on the identification of repressors.