Social desirability bias is a factor which could affect the results of any research study which involves methods of self-reporting by participants. Human beings have an inbuilt desire to portray themselves in the most positive light possible. Sometimes they are unaware of this tendency altogether and do not realise they are being dishonest in their answers. At other times, people are aware and deliberately respond in a way they believe to be socially favourable. Furthermore, social desirability bias can apply to everyday life, in addition to research studies.
According to Anton J. Nederhof (2006), “Social desirability is one of the most common sources of bias affecting the validity of experimental and survey research findings.” From a self-presentational outlook, social desirability can be viewed as the subsequent of two distinct issues: self-deception and other-deception (Nederhof, 2006). Self-deception involves the individual believing that what they are saying is true, even when it is clearly not. Other-deception occurs when an individual knows they are not telling the truth but wish the other person to think more highly of them.
A great deal of what we know about the behaviour of human beings results from self-report methods (Fisher, 1993). However, humans have an inbuilt inclination to present themselves in the most positive way possible and this can interfere with accurate results in such reports. In particular, sensitive topics can rouse dishonest, or at least economical, responses from participants. There are dangers involved with Social Desirability Bias, namely that the results from studies cannot be treated as valid and this could lead to problems.
An example of when social desirability bias could present a danger is if an underweight patient at a doctor’s surgery was asked to fill in a questionnaire reporting what they were eating on a daily basis. As people have a tendency to answer in a way which will put them in the best light, this individual may well be dishonest on their questionnaire and claim to be eating more, and more healthily, than they actually are. This could present a danger as the doctor has no way of knowing what they are truly eating, and not eating, and how best to help them. In fact, a doctor may decide that, based on the results of the questionnaire, the patient seems to be improving their diet. In turn, the patient may be discharged from the doctor’s care and be free to lose more weight and become dangerously ill.
A further example of where social desirability bias could become dangerous in everyday life is if an individual has just secured a job on a building site. The site manager may ask the new recruit if they have knowledge of health and safety when working on high rise buildings. The employee may feel that he ought to know the safely information and that the manager will think more highly of him if he does, he might answer in the affirmative. If, however, he does not have knowledge or training in working on high rise buildings, and goes on to work on them, he could cause a serious accident to himself, his fellow workers, or the public.
In terms of scientific or other types of research, there are two main problems that social desirability bias can present to researchers. According to Nancarrow and Brace (2000), these are: “the over-reporting of socially desirable behaviour and under-reporting of socially undesirable behaviour”; and confusing of relationships: the existence of social desirability bias can weaken, expand or restrain relationships between variables (Nancarrow & Bracer, 2000). Furthermore, research that is unmindful of such difficulties or does not take measures to control or reduce their results may lead to false theoretical or practical conclusions with related real or lost opportunity detriments (Fisher, 1993).
Of course, testing the existence of social desirability bias is problematic, mainly due to the involvedness of the phenomenon (Fisher, 2000). The incidence of self-deception positivity, for example, is a desirable quality which is present in personality elements such as self-esteem. Therefore, removing or interfering with self-deception positivity can in fact prove more detrimental to the study (Fisher, 2000). Additionally, if a researcher were to study social desirability bias, which many have, they must bear in mind that the results of the study could, in themselves, be affected by social desirability bias.
Social desirability bias is a complex wonder which can be witnessed both in research studies and in everyday life situations. There are various reasons for the existence of the bias, the main one being that people wish to portray themselves in a socially desirable way, even if that means being lenient or elaborative with the truth. Researchers have identified ways to reduce the chances of social desirability bias occurring in studies, which should prove useful for future studies. However, such methods could also be useful in the wider community in order to lessen the potential dangers of social desirability bias.
References
Fisher, R.F. (1993). Social Desirability Bias and the Validity of Indirect Questioning. Journal
of Consumer Research, Vol.20, 303-313.
Fisher, R.F. (2000). The future of social-desirability bias research in marketing. Psychology
and Marketing. Special Issue: Social Desirability Bias. Volume 17, Issue 2, pages 73–
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6793%28200002%2917:2%3C73::AID-MAR1%3E3.0.CO;2-L/abstract
Nancarrow & Brace. (2000). Saying the "right thing": Coping with Social Desirability Bias in
Marketing Research. Bristol Business School Teaching and Research Review
Issue 3, Summer 2000, ISSN 1468-4578.
http://www.wedb.net/download/quanti/mallu_metodos_de_pesquisa/metodologia/sayi
ng_the_right_thing_coping_with_social_desirability_bias_in_marketing_research.htmNederhof, A.J. (2006). Methods of coping with social desirability bias: A review. European
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