Social Desirability Scale Values Research Articles

Coping, defense and socially desirable responses.

Coping and defensive behaviors, assessed by intensive interviews, covary, respectively, with the presence of socially desirable and socially undesirable inventory responses. Minimizing the influence of the social desirability variable consequently interferes with the strategic capacity of inventory items to index coping and defense. Furthermore, using low social-desirability scale value items most effectively discriminates between genuine and defensively distorted inventory responses. Neutral items are less efficient in this connection even though they minimize socially desirable responding.

Social desirability scale values of questions and answers.

Social desirability scale values of questions and answers.

Factor Analysis Of Individual Social Desirability Scale Values: Second-Order Analysis.

A general social desirability factor emerged at the second-order level when a set of individual social desirability scale values were correlated between subjects (i.e., across items) and factor analysed. However, no such general factor emerged at the second-order level when the individual judgments were correlated between items (i.e., across subjects).

Probability of Endorsement of Items in the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory: Replication

For 57 male and 59 female Japanese college students probabilities of endorsement of Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory items as true or false correlated .81. rs for probabilities of endorsement for these Ss and Edwards' American were .69 for males and .62 for females. These probabilities of endorsement and Noguchi's social desirability scale values correlated .75 for males, .65 for females (.80 for American males and females). Data suggest contamination from Noguchi's use of the? option, translation, and other sources.

Introversion and achievement motivation.

Eysenck (2) has argued that introverts develop conditioned responses more rapidly and to greater strength than do extraverts, and has deduced that their secondary drives and degree of socialization will accordingly be greater. A consonant expectation is that introverts would be high in achievement motivation (4), which some work of McClelland, et a1. (7) seems to support. These authors have reported personality traits descriptive of introversion as being associated with high achievement motivation when the latter is measured by TAT fantasy reports. The present note reports further data, employing an objective rather than projective measure of achievement motivation. One of the most widely used measures of introversion has been the Maudsley Personality Inventory (3, 6), which has recently been revised and improved, and renamed the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI; 5). The E scale of the EPI was used as the present measure of introversion (a low score indicates introversion) and the n Achievement (n Ach) scale of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS; 1) as a measure of achievement motivation. This is an objective, direct self-report measure, with forced-choice items each consisting of rwo statements matched with respect to social desirability scale value. Both scales were administered to 66 male trade apprentices at a large British motor works training school. The Pearson correlation between the two scales was -0.21 (P < .05; 1-tailed test). Though significant in the predicted direction, the correlation is disappointingly low. One reason for this outcome may lie in the special characteristics of the sample, which is quite different from the original EPPS normative samples and most research samples in being neither North American nor from a college or university student population. Furthermore, it is younger than most previously reported samples and is very homogeneous with respect to age (M = 17.60 yr., SD = 0.87). It might be expected that on a North American university sample the relationship would be more marked, and indeed, employing 70 such Ss in an unpublished factor-analytic study, Farley obtained a factor loading of -0.34 for n Ach (EPPS) on a second-order factor of extraversion. Replication on a more heterogeneous sample with other measures of achievement-motivation might be fruitful.

A Factor Analysis Of Individual Social Desirability Scale Values.

The factorial structure of individual judgments of social desirability scale value (SDSV) was studied by factor analyzing a 112 (college students) by 100 (MMPI items) data matrix of individual judgments of SDSV in two ways. One analysis was factoring by item (R technique) while the second analysis was factoring by subject (Q technique). A large general SD factor appeared when subject intercorrelations were factored, but no such general factor was identified when item intercorrelations were factored. Evidence was also presented that the large general SD factor was highly correlated with mean or normative SDSVs.

Relationships between Social Desirability Scale Values, Probabilities of Endorsement, and Invasion of Privacy Ratings of Objective Personality Items

48 objective personality items were chosen to represent the entire social desirability continuum and were heterogeneous and non-pathological in content. They were rated by 50 males and 50 females for how socially desirable it is to ask persons to respond to them regardless of the responses that might be elicited (SD-?); and by a separate sample of 97 males and 99 females for how much of an invasion of privacy it constitutes to have to endorse them (IP). The correlations between SD-? ratings and conventional social desirability scale values (SDSV) and probabilities of endorsement (P(T)) ranged from .87 to .90. The correlations between IP and SDSV and P(T) ranged from .64 to .74. This evidence indicates that objective personality items are perceived as invasions of privacy almost exclusively to the extent that endorsement of an item is judged to be socially undesirable, even when endorsement is explicitly not in question.

Relationship between social desirability scale value and probability of endorsement for responses in social situations.

Abstract Sixty-nine responses to the cartoons in the Rosenzweig P-F Study were shown separately to two groups. One group of 97 Ss rated each response on a 9-point scale of social desirability; a second group of 113 Ss indicated whether or not they themselves would make the response. The ratings on social desirability of the 69 responses were highly reliable. Secondly, there was a significant positive correlation between the social desirability scale value of a response and the per cent of Ss saying they would make that response. It is concluded that, as with items in personality tests, responses in social situations can be reliably evaluated in terms of social desirability and that such evaluations are associated with the probability of endorsement of these responses.

Social desirability in individual performance on thirteen MMPI scales.

The degree to which individual subjects tend to give socially desirable responses in self‐description on each of thirteen MMPI scales was determined by computing, for each subject, a point–biserial correlation between his true/false responses and the social desirability (SD) scale values of the items. The results indicated that, on the average, from 10% to 20% of the variance in individual self‐descriptions was associated with SD scale values. In comparison with these results, individual differences in the tendency to give SD responses, as measured by (a) these point–biserial correlations and (b) Edwards's SD scale, account for much more of the variance in raw scores on many of the MMPI scales. The differences between these methods of appraising SD aspects of test performance and implications for constructing SD‐free scales were considered.

A Comparison of 57 MMPI Scales and 57 Experimental Scales Matched with the MMPI Scales in Terms of Item Social Desirability Scale Values and Probabilities of Endorsement

A Comparison of 57 MMPI Scales and 57 Experimental Scales Matched with the MMPI Scales in Terms of Item Social Desirability Scale Values and Probabilities of Endorsement

Relationship between probability of endorsement and social desirability scale value for a set of 2,824 personality statements.

Relationship between probability of endorsement and social desirability scale value for a set of 2,824 personality statements.

Social desirability and probability of endorsement of items in the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory.

Noguchi (1964) correlated probability of item endorsement, P ( T ) , and social desirability scale value (SDSV) for the 120 items in the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory (YGPI) using Japanese students as Ss. 7s wete .30 for males and .56 for females. Because these 7s are considerably lower than those found berween P(T) and SDSV for students in the United States, it was decided to repeat Noguchi's srudy with students at the University of Washington. The statements in the YGPI were translated from Japanese into English by two independent translators. One translation was obtained for us by Professor Noguchi. The other was made by a professional translator who was recommended to us bv the Far Eastern De. pattment of the University of Washington as having a fluent reading knowledge of Japanese. There were some differences between the two translations and, when this was the case, we accepted the translation that seemed to be more in accord with customary phrasing of personality items. The 120 statements wete given to a group of 57 males and 48 females with insttuctions to rate the statements on a 9-point social desirability rating scale. These judgments were used to obtain the SDSVs of the items. An independent group of 54 males and 6 6 females answered each item in self-description and the responses of this group wete used to obtain the P ( T ) s of the statements. The product-moment r between the male and female SDSVs was .96 and chis value is comparable to the r of .94 reported by Noguchi for Japanese male and female SDSVs. The r between male and female P ( T ) s in our sample was .93, while the corresponding r for Japanese male and female P (T) s was .64. As has been found in other cross-culrural studies of the SDSVs of personality statements, the scale values we obtained correlated .83 for males and .85 for females with the Japanese scale values. However, 7s between the P (T) s obtained in the United States and those obtained in Japan wete only .42 for males and .47 for females. In ou t sample, the r berween P ( T ) and SDSV war .80 for both males and females, whereas for Japanese students the corresponding rs were only .30 for males and .56 for females. The results of this study suggest that the relatively low r berween P ( T ) and SDSV for Japanese students is not the result of cultural differences in the SDSVs of the statements investigated but instead may represent a cultural difference between Japanese and American students in the tendency to give socially desirable responses in self-description.

Social desirability scale values of personal concepts.

Social desirability scale values of personal concepts.

Relationship between Social Desirability and Probability of Endorsement of Items in the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory

According to Edwards (1953) the probability of obtaining the crue response to a personality test item is a rectilinear and increasing function of the social desirability (SD) scale value of that item. The present work examines this conclusion for responses to the Yatabe-Guilford personality inventory (YGPI) which is used widely in Japan. Wi th the standard YGPI instruction, all 120 items were administered to 74 male students and 50 females, and the probability of endorsement was determined. Furrher, the same males and 30 other females were asked to rate each item on a 9-point Socialdesirability ( S D ) continuum. The value thus obtained is referred to as the SD scale value of the item. About 70% of [he YGPI items were rated as socially undesirable by both males and females; SD scale values ranged from 2.0 to 7.7 for males and from 1.7 to 8.6 for females. The product-moment correlation of these values for the groups was .94, showing good concordance. The correlation for probability of endorsemenr for male and female groups was .64, much lower than .95 of Edwards (1957) who used ICL items. In the male group the probability of endorsement increased rectilinearly with the shift of items from socially undesirable to neutral, but decreased thereafter as the S D value increased furthec. The correlation between the probability of endorsement and the SD scale value was ,.30 for this group. For females the probability of endorsement increased gradually as the SD value increased ( s = .56) . The difference in correlation values suggests that .females are more susceptible than males to S D when they must make self-evaluations, ahhough the value .56 is significantly lower than .87 of Edwards (1953) who employed EPPS items. These findings suggest that the probability of obtaining a crue response to any item of YGPI has no primary relation to the scale value of SD.

Social Desirability Considerations in Separate Acquiescence Set and Content Scores

The set score obtained by a procedure for computing separate set and content scores from self-descriptive responses to personality items was examined for confounding with the social desirability (SD) scale values of those items. Seven experimental scales of MMPI items were formed in which their SD characteristics were systematically varied. The set scores of 50 psychiatric patients on these scales were then computed. With one exception, the magnitudes and signs of the set scores obtained were predicted from SD considerations. The only evidence of a significant set score unconfounded with SD was found in a greater tendency to reject very socially undesirable items than to endorse very socially desirable items.

Differential Responding to Items with High and Low Social Desirability Scale Values

Differential Responding to Items with High and Low Social Desirability Scale Values

Socially desirable responses in relation to grade level.

Edwards (i) voiced the belief that subjects tend to give socially desirable responses to items in personality inventories. This belief was stated in the form of an hypothesis: If a question refers to behavior which is socially desirable, the subject will tend to accept the behavior in self-characterization; if the behavior is socially undesirable, the subject will tend to reject the behavior in self-characterization. Edwards's hypothesis was substantiated. The frequency of endorsement of a personality statement was found to be linearly related to the social desirability scale value of the item. A productmoment correlation coefficient of .87 was obtained by Edwards between probability of endorsement and social desirability scale values. Edwards (2) and others have substantiated and extended his original findings by showing that social desirability values secured from different groups of subjects are comparable. Fujita (3) found a high correlation between judgments of Japanese-American college students and American college students. Lovaas (8) found a high correlation between Norwegian and American students. It has also been shown (2) that the social desirability variable accounts for a large proportion of variance in Q-sorts, judgments of others, and judgments of one's self. These studies attest to the comparability of the social desirability variable for different adult groups and also show that socially desirable responses are general among the adult population.

Relationship between probability of item endorsement and social desirability scale value for high and low groups on Edwards' SD scale.

Relationship between probability of item endorsement and social desirability scale value for high and low groups on Edwards' SD scale.

The relationship between personal and social desirability scale values of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule.

The relationship between personal and social desirability scale values of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule.

Applicability of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule to Nisei

The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) is designed to measure 15 personality variables by forced choices between pairs of statements. Statements in the EPPS were scaled for social desirability by college students. Statements representing different needs were then matched for social desirability. This technique reduced the correlation between social desirability and the probability of endorsement in normal college populations from .87 to .40. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the applicability of the EPPS to a cultural subgroup of Nisei students. Specific hypotheses investigated were: ( a ) The social desirability scale values of the EPPS items for the Nisei group will not differ significantly from those of the normative group. ( b ) The social desirability matching of paired items in the EPPS is adequate for the Nisei population. Ss were 50 men and 50 women Nisei students enrolled at the University of Washington. Group I, 25 of each sex, scaled the EPPS items for social desirability. Group 11, 25 of each sex, were administered the EPPS. For Group I the original list of 140 items used in constructing the EPPS was presented. A 9-point scale was used to obtain ratings of social desirability for each statement. Scale values were obtained by the method of successive intervals. The product moment correlation between these values and the scaled values of the normative group, obtained by the same method, was 95. To determine if the paired statements were matched adequately for Nisei, Fisher's intra-class correlation was calculated. The obtained value of .76 for the Nisei group compares favorably with the .85 correlation for the normative group given by Edwards. The results of giving the EPPS to Group I1 showed no significant differences, at the 1% level, between individual trait means of like sexes for the Nisei and the normative group. A rank order correlation of the means was calculated between like sexes. Correlation between the means for men was .44. This low rank order correlation indicates some difference in the organization of variables for the Nisei men as compared to the normative group men. The rank order correlation between the variable means for Nisei women was .79. This correlation, plus the lack of significant differences of means, supports the interpretation that Nisei women represent a sample from the general college population.