Factor Analysis Of Individual Social Desirability Scale Values: Second-Order Analysis

Area of Science:

• Psychological Measurement
• Social Psychology
• Factor Analysis

Background:

• Social desirability is a significant bias in self-report measures.
• Understanding the structure of social desirability is crucial for accurate psychological research.
• Previous research has explored social desirability at various levels of analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the second-order factor structure of social desirability.
• To determine if a general social desirability factor emerges consistently across different analytical approaches.
• To clarify the measurement properties of social desirability scales.

Main Methods:

• Factor analysis was employed to examine the structure of social desirability.
• Data were analyzed at the second-order level using two distinct correlation matrices.
• Correlations were computed both between subjects (across items) and between items (across subjects).

Main Results:

• A general social desirability factor was identified at the second-order level when individual scale values were correlated across subjects.
• This general factor did not emerge when individual judgments were correlated across items.
• The findings indicate a dependency on the unit of analysis for detecting a general social desirability factor.

Conclusions:

• The existence of a general social desirability factor is dependent on the analytical perspective.
• Researchers should consider the method of correlation and factor analysis when assessing social desirability.
• Further research is needed to fully elucidate the multi-faceted nature of social desirability.