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Using A Polygraph System For Evaluation Of The Social Desirability Response Bias In Self-Report Measures Of Aggression, Dmitri Poltavski, Richard Van Eck, Austin T. Winger, Charles Honts

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Empirical evidence suggests that respondents systematically overreport socially desirable behaviors and systematically underreport socially undesirable behaviors. This “social desirability response bias (SDRB)” presents significant challenges for research that relies on self-report measures to assess behaviors that adhere to or violate social norms. The present study used a state-of-the-art polygraph system to examine SDRB in widely used aggression questionnaires, including the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire-Short Form, the Indirect Aggression subscale of the Aggression Questionnaire by Western Psychological Services, and the Reactive–Proactive Questionnaire. Sixteen college students with no criminal record, no known prior history of aggressive behavior, and no reported drug abuse, responded …