Socially Desirable Responding & Faking

Socially desirable responding (SDR) is presumably one of the most widespread response biases in psychological assessment. While all response biases can have a significant impact on the quality of responses, SDR is believed to have a stronger impact due to its more intentional nature. A subcategory of SDR is faking. This form of bias is considered to be activated by situational demands (e.g., high stakes) and personal characteristics. It manifests itself in alterations of a self-presentation in such a way that personal goals are expected to be supported. Faking can occur in two directions: faking good (self-presentation as better than real, i.e., simulation) and faking bad (self-presentation as worse than real, i.e., dissimulation). The faking directions usually occur under different situational characteristics but both have detrimental effects to the validity of decisions based on psychological measurements.

In our research activities comparisons are made between the standard administration of an assessment and faking conditions (good and bad) for a multitude of traits. These include, but are not limited to, dark personality traits, general personality traits (Big five, HEXACO), and characteristics targeted with neuropsychological assessments. In addition to estimate the size of faking effects under different conditions as well as its covariates, we study and design approaches to reduce the possibility to fake in psychological assessments or to reduce the impact that faking has on responses. Moreover, approaches to coach faking behavior effectively are also under scrutiny.

Interested in collaborating with us? Considering a Bachelor or Master Thesis in Psychology or an internship in this area? Great! Please contact us -> Prof. Dr. Ralf Schulze & Dr. Markus Jansen