Research has shown that desirable responding can be detrimental to social relationships, achievement and health. This study used an experimental design to (a) induce an increase in desirable responding through threat to self-image and then (b) compare the effectiveness of self-compassionate and self-affirming writing in attenuating that increase. Control groups included no threat exposure, threat exposure alone and threat exposure plus neutral writing. Desirable responding was measured along two dimensions: self-enhancement and exaggerated virtue. Results show the threat did not result in the predicted increase in desirable responding so the effectiveness of the two strategies with regards to attenuating increases in desirable responding could not be examined and compared. However, results do reveal a difference in the mechanism of these two strategies. Engaging in self-compassionate writing resulted in a significant decrease in exaggerated virtue whereas being self-affirmed resulted in a significant increase, suggesting a possible benefit of a self-compassion strategy.

A follow-up was done to Leak and Fish's (1989) study of intrinsically and extrinsically religious individuals using Paulhus' (1984) Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, a two factor scale of socially desirable responding measuring self-deceptive enhancement (SDE) and impression management (IM). 275 introduction to psychology students were group tested and categorized by gender and by religious orientation with Allport and Ross's (1967) fourfold Religious Orientation Scale (ROS). Differences between the four types were hypothesized on the religious relevance of the SDE and IM scale items. A difference score was also computed by contrasting two instructional sets on the BIDR as a measure of variation across situations. Measures of private and public self-consciousness, social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and self esteem were included.

OBJECTIVES: The general aim of this research was to analyse the relationships between bullying (as a distinct form of aggression), victimisation, personal and collective self-esteem, and narcissism in adolescents. Baumeister et al. (1996) refuted the conventionally accepted view that low self-esteem is a cause of violence whereby, for example, those who lack self-esteem may use aggression as a means of dominating others and thereby gaining self-esteem. Instead, it may be that aggression is related to high self-esteem such that individuals with a combination of high levels of both self-esteem and narcissism are more likely to react aggressively to a perceived threat. Design: After a conducting a small pilot study (n = 112), the main study employed a large-scale cross-sectional survey with self-report questionnaires administered to school students during class. METHODS: Participants were drawn from six metropolitan high schools in Adelaide (South Australia), resulting in 1,628 adolescents (665 females & 963 males, aged 12-17 years) completing the survey. The questionnaire battery comprised modified self-report bully and victim versions of the Direct and Indirect Aggression Scales (Bjorkqvist et al., 1992), personal (Rosenberg, 1979) and collective self-esteem (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) scales, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Hall, 1981), and a measure of socially desirable responding (i.e., Impression Management; Paulhus, 1991). RESULTS: A variety of multivariate analyses controlling for socially desirable responses was employed to test and explore hypothesised relationships. Results showed no relationship between age and any form of bullying or victimisation. Boys reported significantly higher mean levels of direct and total bullying and victimisation, whereas girls reported higher levels of indirect bullying and victimisation. Victimisation was negatively correlated with personal self-esteem, and positively correlated with collective self-esteem. In contrast, bullying was positively correlated with personal self-esteem, with no significant relationship found with collective self-esteem. Collective and personal self-esteem did not differentially predict different types of bullying or victimisation. Narcissism was positively correlated with bullying. The predicted interaction between personal self-esteem, narcissism and bullying was evident, although the predicted collective self-esteem interaction was not found. Impression Management (social desirability) was significantly negatively correlated with bullying and, to a lesser extent, with victimisation. CONCLUSION: Research such as this into the possible causes and correlates of aggression and bullying will assist in the design, implementation, and maintenance of effective interventions. For example, as results corresponded with Baumeister et al.'s (1996) assertion in that bullying was related to high self-esteem, interventions that are designed to increase self-esteem might in reality be counterproductive and possibly contribute to an increase in bullying behaviour. Additionally, victims reported higher collective self-esteem than their non-victimised peers, clearly a novel finding worthy of further research. Findings suggested that, rather than running the risk of underreporting of socially undesirable behaviours, self-report methods provide a useful and valid means of measuring prevalence rates and internal states. Rather than underreporting aggressive behaviours, it is likely that respondents were being honest as they did not feel that these behaviours were, in fact, socially undesirable. The present sample reported bullying and victimisation prevalence rates that were comparatively high, despite using relatively conservative criteria, possibly due to an increased awareness of what constitutes bullying as a result of government and school anti-bullying policies and initiatives. The findings generally correspond with and build upon previous research. In addition, a number of the results are novel, providing numerous opportunities for future researchers to further explore and test the relationships between self-esteem, bullying, and victimisation.

No description available.

No description available.

Le Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) (Paulhus, 1984, 1991) est un des questionnaires les plus utilisés pour évaluer la désirabilité sociale. Il est composé de deux échelles de 20 énoncés, soit l'autoduperie, la tendance à se décrire de façon honnête, mais biaisée positivement, et l'hétéroduperie, qui est la tendance à présenter une image favorable de soi à autrui (Paulhus, 1986). Les deux échelles possèdent de bonnes qualités psychométriques, et ce, pour la version francophone (Cournoyer & Sabourin, 1991) et anglophone (Paulhus, 1984, 1991). Les études qui comportent plusieurs questionnaires tendent à produire plus de valeurs manquantes et un taux de refus supérieur que dans les enquêtes où le nombre est moindre (Stanton, Sinar, Balzer, & Smith, 2002). Le besoin d'une version abrégée est donc grand, - surtout pour un questionnaire tel le BIDR qui est utilisé dans le but de supporter la validité discriminante d'autres questionnaires. Le but de la présente recherche consiste à proposer une version abrégée du BIDR qui puisse être utilisée tant en français qu'en anglais. Pour ce faire, une procédure en quatre étapes est utilisée: analyse d'items, analyse factorielle exploratoire, analyse du fonctionnement différentiel d'items (FDI) et analyse factorielle confirmatoire. Un total de 2787 sujets (700 hommes anglophones, 928 femmes anglophones, 567 hommes francophones et 592 femmes francophones) a répondu aux énoncés des deux échelles du BIDR. Cet échantillon provient de quatre études différentes (une francophone et trois anglophones). La version abrégée proposée comporte 21 énoncés dont huit pour l'échelle d'autoduperie et 13 pour l'échelle d'hétéroduperie. Les analyses factorielles confirmatoires montrent que cette version abrégée présente des qualités psychométriques similaires pour les deux langues. Cependant, les coefficients KR-20 de l'échelle d'autoduperie sont légèrement sous le seuil minimal accepté en recherche de 0,60 proposé par Robinson, Shaver et Wrightsman (1991). D'autres recherches sont donc nécessaires afin de reformuler ou remplacer certains énoncés de cette échelle.

Respond bias has always been a risk when it comes to interpreting personality data. For this reason two social desirability measures were created to combat this problem during research and workplace application. The first of these measures is the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale created to measure a need for approval. The second of these measures is Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, which stems from a theory that describes social desirability as both a deception towards others and towards the self. For either of these measures to be usable, however, they need to be reliable and valid. This study then is intended to validate these two instruments in a diverse South African population sample and to look at the reliability of the items in these instruments and their factor structure. The objective of this study was to investigate both of these measures and to determine their psychometric properties and how they compare to the theory in literature. A convenient and purposive sample of N = 359 individuals from across South Africa was contacted via electronic means and asked to partake in this study. A questionnaire survey was forwarded to them with the intention of measuring social desirability. This included both the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) measure. In addition a demographical questionnaire was included (gender, race, language group and age). The statistical analysis was done via the SPSS program during data examination: descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (with Maximum Likelihood as extraction method), Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, and product-moment correlations were conducted. The results of this analysis indicated that although these measures are widely accepted and used internationally, the full version of both the measures is not valid and reliable within this South African sample. Although not all items from the scales could be validated, there were items that indicated very acceptable psychometric properties. Various recommendations were made for the context of using these measures to ascertain an individual’s response bias and for future research. A person attempting to use these measures should only focus on using the reliable items from this study. These items could be applied in developing a shortened version of these measures. It is recommended that further research into these measures could be done by using a traditional paper-and pencil format, a larger sample or by focusing on a specific population group within South Africa. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Respond bias has always been a risk when it comes to interpreting personality data. For this reason two social desirability measures were created to combat this problem during research and workplace application. The first of these measures is the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale created to measure a need for approval. The second of these measures is Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, which stems from a theory that describes social desirability as both a deception towards others and towards the self. For either of these measures to be usable, however, they need to be reliable and valid. This study then is intended to validate these two instruments in a diverse South African population sample and to look at the reliability of the items in these instruments and their factor structure. The objective of this study was to investigate both of these measures and to determine their psychometric properties and how they compare to the theory in literature. A convenient and purposive sample of N = 359 individuals from across South Africa was contacted via electronic means and asked to partake in this study. A questionnaire survey was forwarded to them with the intention of measuring social desirability. This included both the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) measure. In addition a demographical questionnaire was included (gender, race, language group and age). The statistical analysis was done via the SPSS program during data examination: descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (with Maximum Likelihood as extraction method), Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, and product-moment correlations were conducted. The results of this analysis indicated that although these measures are widely accepted and used internationally, the full version of both the measures is not valid and reliable within this South African sample. Although not all items from the scales could be validated, there were items that indicated very acceptable psychometric properties. Various recommendations were made for the context of using these measures to ascertain an individual’s response bias and for future research. A person attempting to use these measures should only focus on using the reliable items from this study. These items could be applied in developing a shortened version of these measures. It is recommended that further research into these measures could be done by using a traditional paper-and pencil format, a larger sample or by focusing on a specific population group within South Africa. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Fear of missing out (FoMO) represents a fear of losing out on rewarding experiences that others might have. The Covid-19 pandemic has required great restrictions on social interactions, with many reporting experiences of loneliness. The recommendations for the general public have been followed to different extents, depending on the individual. It is possible that FoMO could decrease compliance with social distancing recommendations and that socially desirable responding (SDR) also is involved. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between university students' FoMO and self-reported compliance with Swedish recommendations on social gatherings during the past year of the Covid-19 pandemic. A second aim was to explore the influence of SDR on this relationship. The study population consisted of 162 university students that responded to an on-line survey containing the validated FoMO scale, the two-factor SDR scale BIDR-16 and questions exploring compliance with restrictive recommendations on social gatherings (CRG). Utilizing a cross-sectional quantitative study design, Pearson correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to investigate these associations. The study results showed that there were no significant difference in CRG between high and low FoMO groups. Analyzed together with the two SDR variables, FoMO was related to worse attitudinal compliance (0.4%) and worse behavioral compliancy (2.9%). A higher level of efforts to be positively perceived by others was associated with higher attitudinal and behavioral compliance. A higher level of unintentionally embellishing one’s own self-assessment decreased behavioral compliance by relating to a higher number of reported events going against the guidelines. / Fear of missing out (FoMO) representerar en rädsla för att missa givande erfarenheter som andra har. Covid-19-pandemin har inneburit stora restriktioner av sociala interaktioner och många rapporterar en upplevelse av ensamhet. Rekommendationerna som utfärdats för allmänheten har följts i olika utsträckning, beroende på individen. Det är möjligt att FoMO skulle kunna minska följsamhet av rekommendationer om att hålla socialt avstånd samt att socialt önskvärda responser (SDR) också är involverade. Studiens syfte var att undersöka relationen mellan universitetsstudenters FoMO och självrapporterad följsamhet av de svenska rekommendationerna kring sociala sammankomster under det senaste året av Covid-19-pandemin. Ett andra syfte var att utforska hur SDR influerade detta förhållande. Studiens population bestod av 162 universitetsstudenter som besvarade en enkät on-line; innehållande det validerade FoMO-formuläret, det tvåfaktorskaliga BIDR-16-formuläret som mäter SDR samt frågor kring följsamhet av restriktiva rekommendationer om sociala sammankomster (CRG). I en tvärsnittlig kvantitativ design studerades associationer med Pearson-korrelationer och hierarkiska regressionsmodeller. Studiens resultat visade att det inte var någon signifikant skillnad i CRG mellan hög och låg nivå av FoMO. Vid analys tillsammans med de två SDR-variablerna, relaterade högre FoMO till lägre följsamhet i attityd (0,4%) och lägre följsamhet i beteende (2.9%). En hög nivå av strävan efter att bli positivt utvärderad var förknippad med en högre nivå av attityd- och beteendemässig följsamhet. En högre nivå av omedvetet förskönande av egen självbild minskade följsamhet genom att relatera till ett högre antal angivna tillställningar som bröt mot rekommendationerna.

People are not always rational, rely on heuristics and are influenced by situational factors being conducive to biased decisions. Hence, the decision outcome cannot be explained by consumers’ preferences exclusively. This offers opportunities to service managers to steer the decision outcome into a desirable direction by a beneficial design of situational factors. In contrast to the discussed opportunities, situational factors can also become a pitfall for researchers and managers. I show that situational factors may compromise the validity of research results based on self reports in a service context, because the reported scores of research participants may be biased. Three perspectives related to service management are distinguished in this thesis: First, the customer independently of the service provider; second, the interaction of customer and service provider; third, the service provider independently of the customer. From the perspective of the customer, I investigate the impact of different defaults in a customization process on the decision outcome of different types of customers. From the perspective of the customer and service provider interaction, I point out a new solution to overcome a dilemma related to service productivity. Finally, from the perspective of the service provider, the possible contamination of service related constructs by socially desirable responding is examined.