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Teasing Apart Overclaiming, Overconfidence, and Socially Desirable Responding
Doreen Bensch1, Delroy L Paulhus2, Lazar Stankov3
11 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Assessment
|March 31, 2017
Summary
Positivity bias in psychological assessments can be detected using various tools. Our study found that the overclaiming technique is the most distinct indicator, separate from personality traits.
Area of Science:
- Psychological assessment
- Personality psychology
- Cognitive psychology
Background:
- Positivity bias is a pervasive issue in psychological assessment.
- Various methods, including social desirability scales, overconfidence measures, and the overclaiming technique, are used to detect this bias.
- Limited research exists on the overlap and nomological network of these positivity bias detection tools.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nomological network of different positivity bias detection tools.
- To determine the degree of overlap between various measures of positivity bias.
- To assess the distinctiveness of these measures in relation to personality and cognitive ability.
Main Methods:
- Administered a wide range of positivity bias detection tools to 798 participants in low-stakes settings.
- Included measures of the Big Five personality traits, grandiose narcissism, and cognitive ability.
- Utilized exploratory factor analyses to examine the underlying factor structure.
Main Results:
- Exploratory factor analyses identified six first-order and two second-order factors.
- Overclaiming did not load onto any first-order factors, and overconfidence was not explained by second-order factors.
- Most other measures were confounded with personality and/or cognitive ability.
Conclusions:
- The overclaiming technique emerged as the most distinct indicator of positivity bias.
- Overclaiming appears independent of established personality measures.
- Findings suggest overclaiming is a unique construct for detecting positivity bias in assessments.