Social desirability bias
Social desirability bias is the tendency of people answering surveys or interviews to give responses that will make them look good, over-reporting approved behaviour and under-reporting behaviour they expect others to frown upon.
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Why does social desirability bias happen?
Answering a question is a social act, even on a form. People want to be seen, and to see themselves, as decent and sensible, so answers drift towards the respectable version. Some of this is deliberate impression management aimed at the interviewer; some is quieter self-deception about one’s own habits. The pull is strongest for sensitive topics such as drinking, prejudice, money and voting, and when a real person asks face to face. Because the distortion is systematic rather than random, it shifts averages and cannot be fixed by surveying more people.
What does social desirability bias look like in real life?
- More people telling pollsters they voted than official turnout figures can account for.
- Patients under-reporting how much alcohol they drink when asked by their GP.
- Employees rating their own diversity and inclusion behaviour highly in a survey run by their manager.
How do you counter social desirability bias?
- Use anonymous, self-completed questionnaires instead of face-to-face interviews for sensitive topics.
- Word questions so the less flattering answer feels normal, and ask about specific recent behaviour rather than general habits.
- Cross-check self-reports against records or behaviour where possible, and include a social desirability scale to flag likely distortion.
Frequently asked
- What is social desirability bias in simple terms?
- It is when people answer questions in the way they think makes them look best, rather than with the plain truth. They claim more exercise, charity and voting, and less drinking or prejudice, than is really the case.
- What is an example of social desirability bias?
- Asked in person how often they recycle, many people give a higher figure than their actual habits support, because recycling is approved of and admitting otherwise feels mildly embarrassing in front of the interviewer.
- How do researchers measure social desirability bias?
- A common tool is the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale, introduced by Douglas Crowne and David Marlowe in 1960. It asks about behaviours that are admirable but rare, so very high scores suggest a person is presenting an idealised picture.
- How is it different from the Hawthorne effect?
- Social desirability bias distorts what people say about themselves. The Hawthorne effect changes what people actually do while they know they are observed. Both can contaminate the same study, but they act on different things.
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Cite this page
ReadGlobe. (2026). Social desirability bias. https://readglobe.com/bias/social-desirability-bias/
"Social desirability bias." ReadGlobe, 24 Oct. 2026, readglobe.com/bias/social-desirability-bias/.
Editorial synthesis © ReadGlobe 2026, drawing on Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, the Tversky–Kahneman research program, and the primary cognitive-science literature. · Last reviewed 2026-10-24.