Using social desirability scales in research among the elderly

被引：46

作者：

Dijkstra, W ^{[1
]}

Smit, JH

Comijs, HC

机构：

[1] Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Dept Social Res Methodol, Amsterdam, Netherlands

[2] Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Dept Sociol & Social Gerontol, Amsterdam, Netherlands

[3] Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Inst Extramural Hlth Res, Amsterdam, Netherlands

来源：

QUALITY & QUANTITY | 2001年 / 35卷 / 01期

关键词：

social desirability scales; data collection; elder respondents; need for approved cognitive abilities;

D O I：

10.1023/A:1004816210439

中图分类号：

C [社会科学总论];

学科分类号：

03 ; 0303 ;

摘要：

A consistent finding is that elderly people obtain higher scores on social desirability (SD) scales than younger ones. It is usually assumed that elderly people are more eager to present themselves in a favourable way. Hence, especially in survey-research among the elderly, it is common practice to include SD-scales to correct for spurious relationships. In this article it is argued that the assumptions underlying such practice are doubtful, because SD-scores may be affected by a variety of factors but the tendency to present oneself favourably. Two such factors related to the question-answering process are discussed in more detail. Empirical support is provided that these factors may explain the relationship between the score on a SD-scale and age. It is argued that using SD-scales to correct for relationships between variables, may lead to erroneous results.

引用

页码：107 / 115

页数：9