Connelly Brian S, Chang Luye
University of Toronto.
Select International, Pittsburgh.
J Pers. 2016 Jun;84(3):319-34. doi: 10.1111/jopy.12161. Epub 2015 Feb 24.
Though unlikely virtues scales have a long history in personality, clinical, and applied psychology for detecting socially desirable responding, using such social desirability (SD) scales has generally failed to improve the validity of personality measures. We examined whether this is because (a) response distortion itself has minimal impact on personality's validity, (b) SD scales are ineffective at assessing response distortion, or (c) SD scales are conflated with substantive trait variance. We compiled a meta-analytic multitrait multimethod matrix consisting of multirater personality traits, SD scales, and performance outcomes. We examined the influence of trait factors and self-report method factors on SD scales and performance. We found that self-report method variance (a) was negatively related to performance, (b) would suppress personality-performance relationships for self-report measures, and (c) was (partially) assessed by SD scales. However, relative to the effects of self-report method variance, SD scales are even more strongly influenced by Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Agreeableness. It is not the case that SD scales are insensitive to inflated responding but that their susceptibility to personality trait variance likely outweighs their benefits. We discuss the implications of these results for using SD scales in research and practice.
尽管不太可能，但为了检测社会期望反应，在人格、临床和应用心理学中，社会期望量表有着悠久的历史，然而使用这类社会期望（SD）量表通常未能提高人格测量的效度。我们研究了这是否是因为：（a）反应偏差本身对人格效度的影响微乎其微；（b）SD量表在评估反应偏差方面无效；或者（c）SD量表与实质性特质变异相混淆。我们编制了一个元分析多特质多方法矩阵，该矩阵由多评价者人格特质、SD量表和绩效结果组成。我们研究了特质因素和自我报告方法因素对SD量表和绩效的影响。我们发现，自我报告方法变异：（a）与绩效呈负相关；（b）会抑制自我报告测量的人格与绩效之间的关系；（c）（部分）由SD量表评估。然而，相对于自我报告方法变异的影响，SD量表受尽责性、情绪稳定性和宜人性的影响更大。并非SD量表对夸大反应不敏感，而是它们对人格特质变异的敏感性可能超过了其益处。我们讨论了这些结果对在研究和实践中使用SD量表的启示。
