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Potential for hostility and faking-good in high-hostile men
1Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa 35487-0348, USA.
Journal of Behavioral Medicine
|February 1, 1997
Summary
Hostile individuals can intentionally underreport their hostility (PoHo) on the Structured Interview (SI). This study shows that instructions to "fake good" significantly lowered PoHo scores in experimental participants.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Clinical Assessment
Background:
- Assessing hostility via the Structured Interview (SI) is common in psychological research.
- Previous research has not fully explored the potential for voluntary underreporting or 'faking-good' of hostility scores.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether individuals assessed as hostile can voluntarily underreport their hostility (PoHo) using the SI.
- To determine the impact of instructions to 'fake-good' on SI-derived hostility scores.
Main Methods:
- Sixteen men with high SI hostility scores were recruited.
- Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (instructed to 'fake-good') or a control group.
- Both groups underwent a second, videotaped SI, and scores were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA.
Main Results:
- Experimental subjects successfully decreased their global PoHo scores when instructed to present themselves favorably.
- 38% of experimental subjects scored below the clinical cutoff for hostility after receiving 'fake-good' instructions.
- Control group scores did not show a similar decrease.
Conclusions:
- The hostility score derived from the SI is susceptible to voluntary underreporting ('faking-good').
- Subject motivation and pre-interview instructions significantly influence SI-assessed hostility.
- Clinical and research settings using the SI should consider potential biases from participant motivation and instructions.