Question

Which of the following describes the bias related to why people might answer questions in a way that is viewed, or perceived to be viewed, favorably by others

Question 61 options:

a	Availability heuristic
b	Social desirability bias
c	Demand characteristics
d	Attention bias
e	Judgment adjustment

Answer 1

In social science research, social desirability bias is a type of response bias that is the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. It can take the form of over-reporting "good behavior" or under-reporting "bad," or undesirable behavior. The tendency poses a serious problem with conducting research with self-reports, especially questionnaires. This bias interferes with the interpretation of average tendencies as well as individual differences.

Social desirability bias refers to the tendency of research subjects to give socially desirable responses instead of choosing responses that are reflective of their true feelings. The bias in responses due to this personality trait becomes a major issue when the scope of the study involves socially sensitive issues such as politics, religion, and environment, or personal issues such as drug use, cheating, and smoking. Whenever possible, it is desirable to measure the extent of the bias present in responses to a survey by incorporating a socially desirable scale in the survey. A number of methods to address this issue are suggested in the literature. Use of a well‐trained interviewer or collection of data through methods that do not require presence involvement of an interviewer can help avoid this bias to some extent. Properly identified options to questions vulnerable to social desirability effect is another means of tackling this issue.

The answer to the question is B- Social Desirability Bias