social desirability bias

Meaning

1. 1noununcountabletechnicalspecialist

   the tendency of people to answer questions in a way that makes them look good or socially acceptable rather than giving the truth

   Grammar: Usually used with 'the' or no article: Social desirability bias can affect survey results.

   Patterns

   • social desirability bias in something
   • reduce social desirability bias
   • because of social desirability bias

   The study may suffer from social desirability bias because people want to seem healthy.

   Researchers try to reduce social desirability bias by asking questions in private.

   Social desirability bias can make people underreport how much they drink.

Common combinations

reduce social desirability bias

Anonymous surveys are used to reduce social desirability bias.

social desirability bias in surveys

Social desirability bias in surveys often makes people claim they vote more than they do.

a source of social desirability bias

Having the interviewer in the room is a source of social desirability bias.

control for social desirability bias

The researchers controlled for social desirability bias in their analysis.

Synonyms and how they differ

response bias

A wider term for any pattern that makes answers inaccurate; social desirability bias is one specific type.

self-report bias

Focuses on problems when people describe themselves; social desirability bias focuses on wanting to look good.

Word family

socially desirable adjective

considered good or acceptable by most people in a society

bias noun

an unfair preference or a systematic error in thinking or results

biased adjective

showing an unfair preference or a systematic error

Commonly confused: social desirability bias or confirmation bias?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “social desirability bias”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words