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Related Experiment Videos

Social desirability and self-reported weight and height.

M R Larson1

  • 1The Center for Psychoneuroimmunology Research, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. Mark_Larson@urmc.rochester.edu

International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity
|June 13, 2000
PubMed
Summary

Young women may misreport their weight to fit societal expectations. This study found a link between the desire to conform and weight discrepancies in females, but not males.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Health Sciences

Background:

  • Societal pressure to appear a certain weight can influence self-perception.
  • Accurate weight reporting is crucial for health assessments and research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the correlation between social desirability and weight/height misreporting.
  • To determine if the desire to conform influences self-reported body measurements.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed self-reported versus measured weight and height in 56 healthy, non-obese volunteers.
  • Utilized the Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) to quantify conformity.
  • Analyzed discrepancies in relation to actual measurements and MCSDS scores.

Main Results:

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  • Females showed a significant correlation between actual weight and weight misreporting.
  • Height was consistently overreported across genders.
  • For females, higher social desirability scores correlated with greater weight misreporting, even after controlling for actual weight.

Conclusions:

  • The desire to conform to societal norms significantly influences weight misreporting in young, non-obese women.
  • Social desirability bias appears to be a key factor in inaccurate weight reporting for this demographic.
  • Further research is needed to explore these findings in diverse populations.