The Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale outperforms the BIDR Impression Management Scale for identifying fakers

Abstract

Self-report personality tests are used widely, but it is not uncommon for an individual’s scale score to be invalid due to Socially Desirable Responding (SDR): answering to be viewed favourably. Various indices exist to detect SDR (e.g., faking). The Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) formerly was the most popular. The current gold standard is the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR), considered more sensitive because its development incorporated newer theoretical and empirical understanding of SDR and more sophisticated multivariate techniques. We compare the efficacy of these measures with surprising results: the MCSDS consistently outperforms the BIDR in identifying fakers. This finding indicates that the MCSDS should be retained because it captures elements of faking more effectively than the modern scale.