What is social desirability bias in simple terms?

In surveys, people tend to give answers that others would approve of rather than honest ones, so they overstate voting or exercise and understate bad habits.

How can it be reduced?

Use self-administered web surveys without an interviewer, stress anonymity, and use techniques such as list experiments that do not reveal an individual's answer directly.

Social Desirability Bias

🧠 Psychology By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 27, 2026

Social desirability bias is the tendency of respondents in surveys or interviews to answer in the direction that will be viewed favorably rather than according to their actual behavior or attitudes. It leads people to over-report desirable behaviors such as voting, giving and exercise, and to under-report undesirable ones such as drinking, drug use and prejudice. It is a leading measurement error threatening the validity of self-report research.

Contents

1. Concept and measurement
2. Two components
3. Survey methods and political research
4. FAQ
5. References

Concept and measurement

Edwards (1957) observed that on personality inventories respondents answer according to how desirable an item seems rather than its content. Crowne and Marlowe (1960) built a scale asking whether people deny common minor faults or claim rare virtues, measuring an individual tendency to respond desirably. The scale is still used to check response distortion on other measures.

Two components

Paulhus (1984) split socially desirable responding into two components. Self-deception is an unconscious tendency to believe one is better than one is; impression management is the deliberate tailoring of answers to look good to others. Because impression management varies with the survey situation, it is the part that survey design can reduce.

Survey methods and political research

Tourangeau and Yan (2007) reviewed evidence that distortion grows with question sensitivity and with an interviewer present, and that self-administration reduces it. Kreuter and colleagues (2008) found that web surveys elicit more honest reports of sensitive information than telephone interviews. Holbrook and Krosnick (2010) used the item count technique, in which respondents report only how many items apply, to confirm turnout over-reporting, and Krumpal (2013) reviewed the bias's determinants and remedies.

FAQ

What is social desirability bias in simple terms?: In surveys, people tend to give answers that others would approve of rather than honest ones, so they overstate voting or exercise and understate bad habits.
How can it be reduced?: Use self-administered web surveys without an interviewer, stress anonymity, and use techniques such as list experiments that do not reveal an individual's answer directly.

Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26

References

Edwards, A. L. (1957). The social desirability variable in personality assessment and research. Dryden Press. Early systematic treatment.
Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24(4), 349–354. The Marlowe-Crowne scale.
Paulhus, D. L. (1984). Two-component models of socially desirable responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(3), 598–609. Self-deception and impression management.
Tourangeau, R., & Yan, T. (2007). Sensitive questions in surveys. Psychological Bulletin, 133(5), 859–883. Review of sensitive questions.
Kreuter, F., Presser, S., & Tourangeau, R. (2008). Social desirability bias in CATI, IVR, and web surveys: The effects of mode and question sensitivity. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72(5), 847–865. Effects of survey mode.
Holbrook, A. L., & Krosnick, J. A. (2010). Social desirability bias in voter turnout reports: Tests using the item count technique. Public Opinion Quarterly, 74(1), 37–67. Turnout over-reporting.
Krumpal, I. (2013). Determinants of social desirability bias in sensitive surveys: A literature review. Quality & Quantity, 47(4), 2025–2047. Determinants review.

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This article was last updated on October 27, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.