This is a Lexicon entry: the mechanism, when it shows up, and the countermeasure. The full correction, with real-world cases and the audit prompt, hasn't been written yet.
Definition
The tendency of a person to answer questions on a survey untruthfully or misleadingly.
When it shows up
Surveys about sensitive topics: income, substance use, opinions on contested issues, self-rated abilities. Any self-reported data on socially coded dimensions.
Failure mode
People answer to manage self-image, please interviewers or avoid social cost. The resulting data is systematically skewed. Decisions made on response-biased data are systematically wrong in the direction of social desirability.
Countermeasure
When designing surveys, use anonymity, indirect questioning, neutral framing. When consuming survey data, adjust for the known direction of bias: drinking under-reported, exercise over-reported, etc.
Related traps
Also connected in the map4 more, locked
Credit & first seen
DiscoveredRichman, W.L. et al. (1999).A meta-analytic study of social desirability distortion.International Journal of Selection and Assessment 7(3) source ↗
Also revealed
Entry #146 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon