Cited by 2,340Survey Methodology and NonresponsePsychometric Methodologies and TestingSurvey Sampling and Estimation Techniques

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Methods of coping with social desirability bias: A review

Nederhof, Anton J.·1985·European Journal of Social Psychology

DOI 10.1002/ejsp.2420150303

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Abstract

Social desirability is one of the most common sources of bias affecting the validity of experimental and survey research findings. From a self‐presentational perspective, social desirability can be regarded as the resultant of two separate factors: self‐deception and other‐deception. Two main modes of coping with social desirability bias are distinguished. The first mode comprises two methods aimed at the detection and measurement of social desirability bias: the use of social desirability scales, and the rating of item desirability. A second category comprises seven methods to prevent or reduce social desirability bias, including the use of forced‐choice items, the randomized response technique, the bogus pipeline, self‐administration of the questionnaire, the selection of interviewers, and the use of proxy subjects. Not one method was found to excel completely and under all conditions in coping with both other‐deceptive and self‐deceptive social desirability bias. A combination of prevention and detection methods offers the best choice available.

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The Determinants of Green Product Development Performance: Green Dynamic Capabilities, Green Transformational Leadership, and Green Creativity
Chen, Y.-S., & Chang, C. (2012) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1452-x · Cited by 1,276
Understanding critical thinking in generative artificial intelligence use: Development, validation, and correlates of the critical thinking in AI use scale
Lau, G. R., Low, W. Y., Tay, L., Guevarra, Y. A., Gašević, D., & Hartanto, A. (2026) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2026.101103 · Cited by 40
Fueling creativity: HR practices, work engagement, personality, and autonomy
Gürbüz, S., Schaufeli, W. B., Freese, C., & Brouwers, E. P. M. (2024) · The International Journal of Human Resource Management · doi:10.1080/09585192.2024.2429125 · Cited by 28
“While our three-wave lagged study design minimizes CMB, it is essential to recognize the potential presence of social desirability bias (Nederhof, 1985) and CMB (Podsakoff et al., 2024), particularly in self-report measures of creativity and proactive personality.”
Innovation generation through formalisation and fairness in university – Industry collaboration
Clauß, T., Kesting, T., & Franco, M. (2024) · Technovation · doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2024.103049 · Cited by 32
Different strokes for different folks: Comparative analysis of 3D printing in large, medium and small firms
Dhir, A., Talwar, S., Islam, N., Alghafes, R., & Badghish, S. (2023) · Technovation · doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102792 · Cited by 26
Employee perceptions of decent work: a systematic literature review of quantitative studies
Nourafkan, N. J., & Tanova, C. (2023) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-023-04837-1 · Cited by 26
“The term “social desirability bias” describes the propen - sity of research participants to select answers that they con - sider to be more socially desirable or acceptable instead of selecting those that reflect their actual thoughts or feelings (Nederhof, 1985).”
Background
Transparency, Fairness, and Coping: How Players Experience Moderation in Multiplayer Online Games
Ma, R., Li, Y., & Kou, Y. (2023) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3544548.3581097 · Cited by 37
Gender, situational visibility, and discretionary decision-making of regulatory street-level bureaucrats under pandemic emergency: an experimental study in China
Yang, F., Huang, X., & Li, Z. (2021) · Public Management Review · doi:10.1080/14719037.2021.1886316 · Cited by 29
“…rigorously anonymous policy of the survey at the beginning of the questionnaire, using neutral words to phrase questions, informing respondents that the questions are openended, and telling them their honest answers would contribute significantly to academic knowledge (Nederhof 1985; Krumpal 2013).”
Background
Can subordinates benefit from Manager’s gossip?
Chang, K., & Kuo, C. (2020) · European Management Journal · doi:10.1016/j.emj.2020.09.009 · Cited by 26
Acceptability and uptake of an electronic decision-making tool to support the implementation of IMCI in primary healthcare facilities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Jensen, C., McKerrow, N., & Wills, G. (2019) · Paediatrics and International Child Health · doi:10.1080/20469047.2019.1697573 · Cited by 26
“socially desirable or acquiescent responding [15,16] leading practitioners to underreport their lack of confidence in using computers, staffing problems and other implementation barriers.”
Background
The impact of hypocrisy on opinion formation: A dynamic model
Gastner, M. T., Takács, K., Gulyás, M., Szvetelszky, Z., & Oborny, B. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218729 · Cited by 29
Impact of word-of-mouth, job attributes and relationship strength on employer attractiveness
Ahamad, F. (2019) · Management Research Review · doi:10.1108/mrr-11-2017-0382 · Cited by 35
Who Supports Honor-Based Violence in the Middle East? Findings From a National Survey of Kuwait
Gengler, J. J., Alkazemi, M. F., & Alsharekh, A. (2018) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260518812067 · Cited by 26
“…of the sensitive nature of honor violence, the survey employed several strategies aimed at mitigating social desirability bias (see Krumpal, 2013; Nederhof, 1985, for reviews)—that is, the tendency of survey respondents to report attitudes and behaviors that they perceive to be socially…”
Method
Enhancing adaptive capacities in coastal communities through engaged communication research: Insights from a statewide study of shellfish co-management
McGreavy, B., Randall, S. F., Quiring, T., Hathaway, C., & Hillyer, G. (2018) · Ocean & Coastal Management · doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.06.016 · Cited by 28
“One of the possible problems with this approach may be response bias, as asking these questions in person could produce a desirability effect (Nederhof, 1985), meaning that responders may not feel comfortable expressing their true opinions directly to the area biologists.”
Background
Predictors of digital piracy among Turkish undergraduate students
Akbulut, Y., & Dönmez, O. (2018) · Telematics and Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.tele.2018.03.004 · Cited by 27
From Antisemitism to Philosemitism? Trends in American Attitudes toward Jews from 1964 to 2016
Cohen, J. (2018) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel9040107 · Cited by 26
Parents’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding sun protection in children: a qualitative study
Littlewood, Z., & Greenfield, S. (2018) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5091-8 · Cited by 32
“This may have created a social desirability bias, whereby responses were adapted to suit what a participant felt the interviewer, as a future health professional, might want to hear, or what the participant felt was socially desirable [52].”
Background
Are Sex Effects on Ethical Decision-Making Fake or Real? A Meta-Analysis on the Contaminating Role of Social Desirability Response Bias
Yang, J., Ming, X., Wang, Z., & Adams, S. M. (2016) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.1177/0033294116682945 · Cited by 23
“Participants are asked to complete questionnaires anonymously based on the premise that there is less the social desirability response bias in a private context compared with a public context (Nederhof, 1985).”
Background
Closing the loop
O'Reilly, S., & Kumar, A. (2016) · The International Journal of Logistics Management · doi:10.1108/ijlm-03-2015-0050 · Cited by 26
Predicting behaviours related to marine litter prevention: an empirical case based on junior high school students in Italy
Gusmerotti, N., Corsini, F., Testa, F., Borghini, A., & Iraldo, F. (2016) · doi:10.1504/ijssoc.2016.074948 · Cited by 26
“According to Nederhof (1985) social desirability, “the tendency on behalf of the subjects to deny socially undesirable traits and to claim socially desirable ones, and the tendency to say things which place the speaker in a favourable light”, can be overcome by ensuring the anonymity of respondents.”
Background
The factors of female taxi drivers’ speeding offenses in Taiwan
Yeh, M.-S., Tseng, C.-M., Liu, H., & Tseng, L.-S. (2015) · Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology and Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.trf.2015.04.005 · Cited by 26
Academic staff's perspectives upon student plagiarism: a case study at a university in Hong Kong
Li, Y. (2013) · Asia Pacific Journal of Education · doi:10.1080/02188791.2013.835710 · Cited by 25
“Nevertheless, it is equally worth noting that, given the sensitive nature of the topic of the interviews, the participants’ responses might be influenced by “social desirability” (Nederhof, 1985), or, a desire to present themselves in a positive light and hide away their inadequate practices.”
Background
Social Desirability of Subtle and Blatant Prejudice Scales
Rattazzi, A. M. M., & Volpato, C. (2003) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/pr0.2003.92.1.241 · Cited by 26
Necessary and Sufficient Values: A Dual Perspective on Consumers’ Willingness to Pay Premiums and Purchase Intentions for Circular Fashion
Helinski, C., Westmattelmann, D., & Schewe, G. (2025) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.145220 · Cited by 28
A Time-lagged Examination of Voluntary and Task-related Green Behavior in the Travel Industry
Dhir, A., Talwar, S., Raj, S., Sampat, B. H., & Nicolau, J. L. (2024) · Journal of Travel Research · doi:10.1177/00472875241230008 · Cited by 29
“Social desirability bias may affect the response of survey participants and so reduce a survey’s validity (Nederhof, 1985).”
Building and Sustaining Ethnically, Racially, and Gender Diverse Software Engineering Teams: A Study at Google
Dagan, E., Sarma, A., Chang, A., D’Angelo, S., Dicker, J., & Murphy-Hill, E. R. (2023) · ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE) · doi:10.1145/3611643.3616273 · Cited by 28
“Another limitation is that participants may have told the interviewer what they thought the interviewer wanted to hear due to social desirability bias [39].”
Background
Affective Attitudes Toward Robots at Work: A Population-Wide Four-Wave Survey Study
Savela, N., Latikka, R., Oksa, R., Kortelainen, S., & Oksanen, A. (2022) · International Journal of Social Robotics · doi:10.1007/s12369-022-00877-y · Cited by 27
“However, it should be noted that people tend to respondmore positively in surveys due to acquiescence bias [23] and in face-to-face situations such as field interviews due to social desirability [24].”
Background
Impact of Professional Development Programmes on Teachers’ Knowledge and Academic Performance of Senior High School Students in Ghana
Osei-Owusu, B. (2022) · European Journal of Education and Pedagogy · doi:10.24018/ejedu.2022.3.2.276 · Cited by 30
“Also, the use of completely anonymized data collection instruments has been long acknowledged as one of the most effective means of reducing social desirability bias among study participants (Nederhof, 1985).”
Background
Exhaustion and dependency: a habituation–sensitization perspective on the duality of habit in social media use
Soror, A. A., Steelman, Z. R., & Turel, O. (2021) · Information Technology and People · doi:10.1108/itp-11-2019-0603 · Cited by 42
What influences safety in paramedicine? Understanding the impact of stress and fatigue on safety outcomes
Donnelly, E. A., Bradford, P., Davis, M. T., Hedges, C., Socha, D., Morassutti, P., & Pichika, S. C. (2020) · Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open · doi:10.1002/emp2.12123 · Cited by 26
The Adolescent Distress-Eustress Scale: Development and Validation
Branson, V., Dry, M. J., Palmer, E., & Turnbull, D. (2019) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/2158244019865802 · Cited by 25
Mode effects on socially desirable responding in web surveys compared to face-to-face and telephone surveys
Berzelak, N., & Vehovar, V. (2018) · Advances in Methodology and Statistics · doi:10.51936/lrkv4884 · Cited by 25
“Nederhof (1985) defines social desirability as a reflection of the tendency, on behalf of the subjects, to deny socially undesirable traits and to claim socially desirable ones, as well as the tendency to say things which place the speaker in a favourable light.”
Background
Socializing Children About Family Structure: Perspectives of Lesbian and Gay Adoptive Parents
Battalen, A. W., Farr, R., Brodzinsky, D., & McRoy, R. (2018) · Journal of GLBT Family Studies · doi:10.1080/1550428x.2018.1465875 · Cited by 25
“This can be problematic because of social desirability bias, as respondents may over-report what they think researchers would like to hear (Nederhof, 1985).”
Background
Social desirability bias in reporting of holiday season healthfulness
Widmar, N. O., Byrd, E., Dominick, S. R., Wolf, C. A., & Acharya, L. (2016) · Preventive Medicine Reports · doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2016.06.017 · Cited by 25
“The holidays are notorious for decadent food and overindulgence.”
Background
Report on Social Desirability, Midpoint and Extreme Responding in TALIS 2013
van de Vijver, F. J. R., & He, J. (2014) · OECD education working papers · doi:10.1787/5jxswcfwt76h-en · Cited by 33
“In this line of thinking, social desirability is a nuisance factor that should be minimised, either through a careful research design or statistical corrections (Nederhof, 1985).”
Background
Invisible gorillas and red herrings: a response to Paley (2013).
Rolfe, G., & Gardner, L. (2014) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2014.01.005 · Cited by 25
Values, Media Framing, and Political Tolerance for Extremist Groups
Ramírez, C., & Verkuyten, M. (2011) · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00775.x · Cited by 25
The relationship of punishment- and victim-based moral orientation to prosocial, externalizing, and norm trespassing behaviour in delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents: a validation study of the Moral Orientation Measure
Stams, G. J. J. M., Deković, M., Brugman, D., Rutten, E. A., van den Wittenboer, G. L. H., Tavecchio, L. W. C., Hendriks, J., & van Schijndel, M. (2008) · Journal of Experimental Criminology · doi:10.1007/s11292-007-9045-x · Cited by 24
“Nederhof (1981) validated this scale for the Netherlands.”
Method
Racial Discourse, Attitude, and Rhetorical Manoeuvres
Verkuyten, M., de Jong, W., & Masson, K. (1994) · Journal of Language and Social Psychology · doi:10.1177/0261927x94133003 · Cited by 21
A brief psychological intervention for improving the mental health of Venezuelan migrants and refugees: A mixed-methods study
Perera, C., Aldamman, K., Hansen, M., Haahr-Pedersen, I., Caballero-Bernal, J., Caldas-Castañeda, O. N., Chaparro-Plata, Y., Dinesen, C., Wiedemann, N., & Vallières, F. (2022) · SSM - Mental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmmh.2022.100109 · Cited by 50
Supervisor to employee bottom-line mentality: The mediating role of moral disengagement and the moderating roles of organizational justice and self-efficacy
Eissa, G., & Lester, S. W. (2025) · Journal of business research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115206 · Cited by 24
How does green human resource management foster employees’ environmental commitment: A sequential mediation analysis
Alshahrani, S. T., & Iqbal, K. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33202 · Cited by 24
“The survey was voluntary for the participants, and they were guaranteed that their answers would be kept private and used only for academic purposes to address the issue of social desirability [66].”
Background

Authors: Nederhof, A. J.
Corresponding author: Nederhof, Anton J.
Venue: European Journal of Social Psychology
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 1985-07
Volume: 15
Issue: 3
Pages: 263-280
ISSN: 0046-2772 (ISSN-L)
1099-0992
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2420150303
OpenAlex: W2046622454
Cited by: 2,340
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 159 · 2025: 218 · 2024: 182 · 2023: 188 · 2022: 175 · 2021: 186 · 2020: 162 · 2019: 144 · 2018: 134 · 2017: 109 · 2016: 100 · 2015: 114 · 2014: 97 · 2013: 68 · 2012: 60
FWCI: 21.96
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 7541 d)
Locations: European Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Survey Sampling and Estimation Techniques
Keywords: social desirability bias, self-presentation, self-deception, Social Desirability Scale, randomized response, bogus pipeline, self-administered questionnaire, bias detection, bias prevention

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Methods of coping with social desirability bias: A review

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