Rushing to Appear Virtuous: Time Pressure Increases Socially Desirable Responding

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Prosocial behavior and decision-making are known to be influenced by time constraints.
• Socially desirable responding (SDR) is a bias where individuals respond in ways they perceive as favorable.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if time pressure increases socially desirable responding outside of direct social interactions.
• To determine if this increase is due to aligning responses with the
• true
• self or conforming to social norms.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: 1,500 Americans randomly assigned to answer a social-desirability bias measure under either quick or slow time conditions.
• Study 2: Examined if the "good-true-self" bias moderates the effect of fast responding on SDR.

Main Results:

• Quick responding significantly increased social desirability in Study 1.
• The tendency to attribute good behaviors to the "true self" predicted SDR, but this effect vanished under time pressure in Study 2.

Conclusions:

• Time pressure enhances socially desirable responding, driven by a desire for favorable self-presentation rather than alignment with one's "true" self.
• Findings suggest that SDR under time pressure reflects a strategic, norm-conforming tendency.