Relation of social desirability to internal dimensions of the self-ideal congruence construct

Using the Self-Insight Test, 80 participants’ self-ratings, ideal ratings, and self-ideal discrepancies on 6 areas of the self acceptance construct were correlated with scores on the Edwards and Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability (SD) scales. Results on both SD scales indicated positive associations between SD and all six measures of self. In terms of relative self-ideal discrepancy, inverse relations were found on emotional stability and leadership dimensions for both SD scales. In general, findings support previous studies but suggest only specific dimensions of the individual’s self system are prone to SD response bias influences.