Evaluation apprehension, social desirability, and the interpretation of test correlations

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Charles B. Thomas, Jr.
Judith A. Hall
Frederick D. Miller
Joseph R. Dewhirst
Gary Alan Fine
Marylee Taylor
Ralph L. Rosnow
Cite this article:  Thomas, Jr., C., Hall, J., Miller, F., Dewhirst, J., Fine, G., Taylor, M., & Rosnow, R. (1979). Evaluation apprehension, social desirability, and the interpretation of test correlations. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 7(2), 193-198.


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In this paper we investigate the relationship between the concepts of social desirability and evaluation apprehension. The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale were administered to 63 Harvard and Radcliffe students. As predicted, there was a moderate negative correlation between social desirability and manifest anxiety in the (anonymous) high evaluation apprehension condition; and a substantially reduced correlation in the (anonymous) low evaluation apprehension condition. Nonanonymous participants also had a lower mean score on the Talyor Manifest Anxiety Scale than did anonymous participants. The results demonstrate a link between evaluation apprehension and social desirability, and indicate the importance of the nature of the testing situation in clinical or applied settings.

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