Hebert J R, Ma Y, Clemow L, Ockene I S, Saperia G, Stanek E J, Merriam P A, Ockene J K
Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester 01655, USA.
Am J Epidemiol. 1997 Dec 15;146(12):1046-55. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009233.
Social desirability (the tendency to respond in such a way as to avoid criticism) and social approval (the tendency to seek praise) are two prominent response set biases evident in answers on structured questionnaires. These biases were tested by comparing nutrient intakes as estimated from a single 24-hour diet recall interview (24 HR) and a 7-day dietary recall (7DDR). Data were collected as part of the Worcester Area Trial for Counseling in Hyperlipidemia, a randomized, physician-delivered nutrition intervention trial for hypercholesterolemic patients conducted in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1991 to 1995. Of the 1,278 total study subjects, 759 had complete data for analysis. Men overestimated their fat and energy intakes on the 7DDR as compared with the 24HR according to social approval: One unit increase in the social approval score was associated with an overestimate of 21.5 kcal/day in total energy intake and 1.2 g/day in total fat intake. Women, however, underestimated their dietary intakes on the 7DDR relative to the 24HR according to social desirability: One unit increase in the social desirability score was associated with an underestimate of 19.2 kcal/day in energy intake and 0.8 g/day in total fat. The results from the present study indicate that social desirability and social approval biases appear to vary by gender. Such biases may lead to misclassification of dietary exposure estimates resulting in a distortion in the perceived relation between health-related outcomes and exposure to specific foods or nutrients. Because these biases may vary according to the perceived demands of research subjects, it is important that they be assessed in a variety of potential research study populations.
社会期望（以避免批评的方式做出回应的倾向）和社会赞许（寻求赞扬的倾向）是结构化问卷答案中明显存在的两种突出的反应定势偏差。通过比较单次24小时饮食回顾访谈（24 HR）和7天饮食回顾（7DDR）估算的营养素摄入量，对这些偏差进行了测试。数据收集是马萨诸塞州伍斯特市从1991年至1995年开展的伍斯特地区高脂血症咨询试验的一部分，这是一项针对高胆固醇血症患者的随机、由医生提供的营养干预试验。在总共1278名研究对象中，759名有完整数据可供分析。根据社会赞许，与24 HR相比，男性在7DDR上高估了他们的脂肪和能量摄入量：社会赞许得分每增加一个单位，总能量摄入量高估21.5千卡/天，总脂肪摄入量高估1.2克/天。然而，根据社会期望，女性在7DDR上相对于24 HR低估了她们的饮食摄入量：社会期望得分每增加一个单位，能量摄入量低估19.2千卡/天，总脂肪低估0.8克/天。本研究结果表明，社会期望和社会赞许偏差似乎因性别而异。这种偏差可能导致饮食暴露估计的错误分类，从而导致对健康相关结果与特定食物或营养素暴露之间感知关系的扭曲。由于这些偏差可能因研究对象的感知需求而异，因此在各种潜在的研究人群中对其进行评估非常重要。
