Individual Viewpoints of Social Desirability Related to Faking Good and Desirability Estimation

Abstract

Two groups of subjects were asked to fake good on selected MMPI scales, and to estimate the social desirability of 100 trait adjectives. These two tasks were counterbalanced for order. A control group was administered the same MMPI scales under self-report instructions and instructed to judge the social desirability of the 100 trait adjectives. The first two groups of subjects were also given 17 trait adjectives in pair-comparison format and asked to judge the difference in social desirability for each trait-pair. A multidimensional scaling analysis of the subjects' group average difference judgments among the trait words indicated three dimensions, labeled General Social Desirability, Dominance-Submission, and Excitability-Control. Individual differences were uncovered in the weights which individual subjects gave to these three dimensions. These weights were found to be related to MMPI scales showing specifiable change under faking instructions, and to the accuracy of social desirability estimation.