Sex Differences in Judgments of Social Desirability.
This study evaluates sex differences in the perceived desirability of personality behaviors and beliefs. Men and women (N = 149, Mage  = 18.7) judged the social desirability scale values (SDSVs) of 150 personality statements as applied either to a male target or a female target. For comparison, some estimated SDSVs with no target sex specified. A separate sample of 537 respondents endorsed the 150 items via self-report. Raters showed a high consensus in their SDSV judgments within conditions (α = .86 to .90) and no sex-of-rater effects across conditions. Substantial sex-of-target effects (p < .001), however, revealed many behaviors that were viewed as desirable for one sex but not for the other. The behaviors seen as more (less) desirable when applied to men rather than to women were endorsed more (less) by men than by women in the respondent sample. Similar results were found when no target sex was specified for the SDSV ratings, presumably because judges evaluated the behaviors as applied to a target of their own sex. The present results have important implications for the measurement and reporting of SDSVs, the evaluation of substance versus style in self-reports, and the construction of desirability-reduced personality inventories.
University of Western Ontario.
Sampo V
SV
Paunonen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D012737:Sex Factors; D012928:Social Desirability; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult