Social Desirability Bias and Direction Modified Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2

Abstract

This study examined the relation between social desirability bias and responses to the direction modified Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 for male soccer players (37 professionals, 40 semiprofessionals, and 40 varsity players; M age = 24.5 yr., SD=3.7) who completed the inventory and Reynolds' 13-item short form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale one hour prior to a competitive match. Intraclass correlations were calculated to assess the relation between the two sets of scores. Out of the 18 correlations calculated, i.e., 6 subscales x 3 skill levels, 17 were significant (p<.05), ranging from .38 to .70. The highest correlations were found among professional players and the lowest amongst the varsity players, but most of the differences were not statistically significant. These results indicate that scores on both the Intensity and Direction subscales of this anxiety inventory are significantly related to the tendency to self-report socially desirable answers. Therefore, care should be taken when interpreting data from studies using the inventory, and social desirability measures should be taken whenever using this questionnaire.

Perceived ability and social support as mediators of achievement motivation and performance anxiety

“…Finally, females reported significantly higher scores on the social desirability scale than males. Thus, we tested the possible effects of social desirability response bias on worry, because such response effects have been found to influence performance anxiety (Smith et al, 2002). Therefore, we conducted an ANCOVA over gender on the worry scale, controlling for social desirability responses.…”

“…Females, more than males, are also hypothesized to perceive social support as more available. We controlled for social desirability response bias on performance anxiety, because such response effects on performance anxiety have been reported previously (Smith et al, 2002).…”

Psychological resilience: the impact of affectivity and coping on state anxiety and positive emotions during and after the Washington, DC sniper killings

“…Participants indicated whether each statement is true or false for them personally, and the number of socially desirable answers (i.e., ''true'' for desirable traits and ''false'' for undesirable ones) were combined to determine each participants' social desirability score, with a potential range from 0 to 33 (all current participants responded to all MCSDS items). The MCSDS has been validated across a wide variety of outcomes and cultures (Rudmin, 1999;Seol, 2007;Tao, Guoying, & Brody, 2009), and has been correlated with neuroticism (Farley, 1966), coping (Gravdal & Sandal, 2006), state anxiety (Smith, Driver, Lafferty, Burrell, & Devonport, 2002), and positive emotions (Harker & Keltner, 2001). In the current study, MCSDS scores Á which were assessed after all other study responses were recorded Á ranged from 2 to 24, with an average of 14.19 (SD 05.68).…”

Football does not improve mental health: a systematic review on football and mental health disorders

“…Some of the answers of the players might be influenced by their tendencies to provide socially desirable answers, as shown by Smith et al (2002). This might also bias the numbers of cases and the calculated prevalence and incidence rates.…”