School self-evaluation: self-perception or self-deception? The impact of motivation and socially desirable responding on self-evaluation results

Figures & data

Table 1. Instrument’s scales, reliabilities, and sample items.

	N° Items	Cronbach’s alpha	Sample items
Socially desirable responding
Impression management	20	0.79	I sometimes tell lies if I have to.*
Self-deception	20	0.72	I am fully in control of my own fate.
Motivation
Autonomous motivation	6	0.87	I fill in this questionnaire because I personally find this very valuable.
Controlled motivation	7	0.76	I fill in this questionnaire because others expect me to do so.
A-motivation	4	0.82	Honestly, I don’t know. I really feel that I am wasting my time when I’m filling in this questionnaire.
Distributed leadership	7	0.93	On this campus everyone has sufficient possibilities to engage in policymaking procedures.
Differentiation	5	0.74	I take into account the different pace of students.

*negatively phrased item.

Table 2. Average and range of fit indices of 20 path models using parcelling for social desirability scales.

Fit indices	Average	Min	Max
CFI	.912	.904	.920
TLI	.903	.894	.911
RMSEA	.044	.042	.046
SRMR	.073	.070	.076

Table 3. Range, mean, and standard deviation for scales on socially desirable responding, motivation, distributed leadership, and differentiation.

CONCEPT	MIN.	MAX.	MEAN	SD
Socially desirable responding
Self-deception	1	5	3.50	.58
Impression management	1	5	3.70	.77
Motivation
Autonomous motivation	1	5	3.42	.79
Controlled motivation	1	5	2.24	.76
A-motivation	1	5	2.33	.88
Distributed leadership	1	5	3.42	.92
Differentiation	1	5	3.73	.67

Figure 1. Relationships between impression management, self-deception, autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, a-motivation, and school self-evaluation scores based on the path analysis.

Table 4. Standardized parameters and p values for indirect effects and total effects of impression management and self-deception on SSE variables.

	Parameter	p
Indirect effects
Impression management → Distributed leadership	0.018	0.547
Self-deception → Distributed leadership	−0.081	0.072
Impression management → Differentiation	0.008	0.546
Self-deception → Differentiation	0.006	0.817
Total effects
Impression management → Distributed leadership	0.145	0.029
Self-deception → Distributed leadership	0.284	0.000
Impression management → Differentiation	0.278	0.000
Self-deception → Differentiation	0.120	0.083