Does Social Desirability Confound the Assessment of Self-Reported Measures of Well-Being and Metacognitive Efficiency in Young and Older Adults?

Abstract

Social desirability is a multicomponent personality trait referring to the tendency of individuals to regulate their answers to establish a positive impression, avoid criticism, or satisfy a need for social approval (Johnson & Fendrich, 2002; Paulhus, 1984). This study investigated the role played by the socially desirable response style assessed with the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) on self-rated measures of affect (i.e., Center of Epidemiological Studies of Depression Scale; Radloff, 1977), metacognitive efficiency (i.e., Sensitivity to Memory Questionnaire; Cornoldi & De Beni, 2003; and Cognitive Failures Questionnaire; Borella, Carretti, Cornoldi, & DeBeni, 2007), and self-perceived psychological wellness (Psychological Wellness and Aging Questionnaire; De Beni, Borella, Carretti, Marigo, & Nava, 2007) in a sample composed of young (M = 24.6 years), old (M = 69.4 years), and very old (M = 81.9 years) adults counterbalanced by gender and education (i.e., ≤ 8 years versus > 8 years). Results revealed that social desirability alone predicted measures of affect and emotional competencies and contributed to predicting personal satisfaction, general perceived wellness, and self-rated cognitive efficiency. Overall, the present outcomes suggest clinical psychologists should pay attention to the crucial interference of social desirability in assessing wellness even in late adulthood, that is, in a developmental phase thought to be mainly characterized by reduced control of physical and psychological functions.

Keywords:

• aging
• metacognition
• social desirability
• well-being

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grant number CRP2_7 from Regione Autonoma Sardegna, given to the first author according to regional law 7/2007, “Promotion of the Scientific Research and Technological Innovation in Sardinia” within the European Programme PO Sardegna European Social Fund (FSE) 2007–2013. The authors thank Professor Aristide Saggino for providing the Italian version of Marlowe and Crown's Social Desirability Scale and the heads of the social service departments of the cities of Arzana, Lanusei, Elini, and Villagrande Strisaili (province of Ogliastra) for their kind support in contacting the participants to the research.