Review of the Psychometric Properties of the Social Desirability Scale and the Development of a Short-Form
Social Desirability Scale
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37226/rcp.v9i1.13313Palabras clave:
social desirability, confirmatory factor analysis, internal structure, psychometric propertiesResumen
This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Social Desirability Scale (SDS) and develop a short version, the SDS-BV. Using data from 3,855 participants in Puerto Rico, confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that while the SDS showed excellent incremental fit (CFI = .995, TLI = .994), its RMSEA values were weaker, highlighting potential areas for refinement. The SDS-BV consistently exhibited very strong fit across all indices (CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.00, SRMR = .012), underscoring its robustness and parsimony. Both scales achieved measurement invariance across demographic and organizational groups, confirming their equivalence for comparative research. High reliability coefficients (α ≥ .926) and significant correlations with related constructs support the validity of both scales. The SDS-BV, with fewer items and superior psychometric performance, emerges as a practical and reliable tool for assessing social desirability in diverse contexts. Findings highlight their relevance for psychological and organizational studies.
Citas
Arrieta, J., Aguerrebere, M., Raviola, G., Flores, H., Elliott, P., Espi-nosa, A., Reyes, A., Ortiz‐Panozo, E., Rodriguez‐Gutierrez, E. G., Mukherjee, J., Palazuelos, D., & Franke, M. F. (2017). Va-lidity and utility of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)‐2 and PHQ‐9 for screening and diagnosis of depression in rural Chiapas, Mexico: A cross‐sectional study. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(9), 1076-1090. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22390 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22390
Aslan, J., Cova, F., Saldivia, S., Bustos, C., Inostroza, C., Rincón, P., Ortiz, C., & Bühring, V. (2020). Psychometric Properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 in Elderly Chilean Primary Care Users. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 555011. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555011
Ato, M., López, J. J., & Benavente, A. (2013). Un sistema de clasi-ficación de los diseños de investigación en psicología. Anales de Psicología, 29(3), 1038-1059. DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.29.3.178511
Bravo, D.M., Súarez-Falcón, J.C., Bianchi, J.M., Segura-Vargas, M.A., & Ruz, F.J. (2021). Psychometric properties and meas-urement invariance of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey in Colombia. International Journal of Environ-mental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 5118. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105118 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105118
Byrne, B. M. (2016). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315757421
Caputo, A. (2017). Social desirability bias in self-reported well-being measures: evidence from an online survey. Universitas Psychologica, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy16-2.sdsw DOI: https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy16-2.sdsw
Chen, F. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 464-504. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/10705510701301834 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834
Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233-255. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5
Cropley, M., Michalianou, G., Pravettoni, G., and Millward, L. J. (2012). The relation of post-work ruminative thinking with eating behaviour. Stress Health 28, 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1397 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1397
DeVellis, R. F. (2017). Scale Development: Theory and Applications. SAGE Publications.
Fabrigar, L.R., Wegener, D.T., MacCallum, R.C., & Strahan, E.J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4, 272-299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.4.3.272 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//1082-989X.4.3.272
Fernández Arata, M., Merino Soto, C., & Guimet Castro, M. (2015a). Propiedades psicométricas del Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey en una muestra de docents de Lima (Perú). Homenaje a Reynaldo Alarcón, 371-391. Editorial Universal.
Fernández Arata, M., Juárez-García, A., & Merino Soto, C. (2015b). Análisis structural e invarianza de medición del MBI-GS en trabajadores peruanos. Liberabit, 21(1), 9-20.
Flores Jiménez, Merino Soto, C., Camacho Ávila, , A., Juárez-García, A., Placencia Reyes, O. (2015). Síndrome de burnout en instructors comunitarios: Propiedades psicométricas del Maslach Burnout Inventory- General Survey (MBI-GS). En A. Juárez-García (Eds.), Investigaciones psicométricas de escalas psicosociales en trabajadores mexicanos (pp. 279-308). Plaza y Valdés Editores.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement er-ror. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Furnham, A. (1986). Response bias, social desirability and dissimu-lation. Personality and Individual Differences, 7(3), 385-400. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(86)90014-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(86)90014-0
George, D., & Mallery, P. (2016). IBM SPSS Statistics 23 Step by Step: A Simple Guide and Reference. Routledge.
Green, S.B. & Yang, Y. (2009). Reliability of summed item scores using structural equation modeling: An alternative to coeffi-cient alpha. Psychometrika, 74, 155-167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-008-9099-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-008-9099-3
Grimm, P. (2010). Social Desirability Bias. In J. Sheth & N. Mal-hotra (Eds.), Wiley International Encyclopedia of Marketing. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem02057 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem02057
González-Rivera, J. A. (2019). Validation and dimensionality of Patient Health Questionnaire for Depression (PHQ-8 and PHQ-9) in Hispanic LGBT+ Community. International Journal of Recent Scientific Research, 10(12), 36670-36676. http://recentscientific.com/sites/default/files/15519-A-2019.pdf
González-Rivera, J. A. (2025). Metodología de la Investigación Apli-cada a la Psicología: Una Guía para Estudiantes y Principiantes (2da edición). Innova Psychological Institute.
Hayes, A. F. & Coutts, J. J. (2020). Use omega rather than cronbach’s alpha for estimating reliability. But…. Communica-tion Methods and Measures, 14(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2020.1718629 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2020.1718629
Hernández, C.R., Rosario-Hernández, E., & Lorenzo-Ruíz, A. (2020). Propiedades psicométricas de la Escala para una Prác-tica Profesional Basada en la Evidencia en una muestra de psicólogos clínicos en la República Dominicana. Revista Cari-beña de Psicología, 4(3), 204-216. https://doi.org/10.37226/rcp.v.4i3.5291 DOI: https://doi.org/10.37226/rcp.v4i3.5291
Howard, M.C., Boudreaux, M., Cogswell, J., Manix, K.G., & Oglesby, M. (2024). A literature review of model fit and model comparison with confirmatory factor analysis: Formalizing the informal in organizational science. Applied Psychology, 74(1), e12592. https://dor.org/10.1111/apps.12592 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12592
Hu, L.T., & Bentler, P. M. (1998). Fit indices in covariance struc-ture modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model mis-specification. Psychological Methods, 3(4), 424-453. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.3.4.424 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//1082-989X.3.4.424
Hu, L.-t., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Kline, R.B. (2016). Principles and practice of structural equation model-ing. The Guilford Press.
Konow, J. & Earley, J. (2008). The Hedonistic Paradox: Is Homo Economicus Happier? Journal of Public Economics, 92, 1-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2007.04.006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2007.04.006
Kozma, A., & Stones, M. J. (1987). Social desirability in measures of subjective well-being: a systematic evaluation. Journal of ger-ontology, 42(1), 56-59. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/42.1.56 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/42.1.56
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of Gen-eral Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606-613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x
Latkin, C. A., Edwards, C., Davey-Rothwell, M. A., & Tobin, K. E. (2017). The relationship between social desirability bias and self-reports of health, substance use, and social network fac-tors among urban substance users in Baltimore, Mary-land. Addictive behaviors, 73, 133–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.05.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.05.005
Li, C.H. (2016a). Confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data: Comparing robust maximum likelihood and diagonally weighted least squares. Behavioral Research Methods, 48(3), 936-949. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0619-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0619-7
Li, C.-H. (2016b). The performance of ML, DWLS, and ULS esti-mation with robust corrections in structural equation models with ordinal variables. Psychological Methods, 21(3), 369-387. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000093 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000093
Martínez Alvarado, L.Y., Rosario-Hernández, E., & Rovira-Millán, L.V. (2017). La relación entre la inseguridad laboral y el bien-estar psicológico en una muestra de asistentes de vuelo: El papel moderador del engagement en el trabajo. Ciencias de la Conducta, 32(1), 99-127.
Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., and Leiter, M. P. (1996). Maslach Burnout Inventory manual. Consulting Psychologists Press.
Maslach, C., & Schaufeli, W. (1993) Historical and conceptual development of burnout. In Schaufeli, W., Maslach, C., & Marek, T. (Ed.), Professional Burnout: Recent Developments in Theory and Practice. Taylor & Francis.
McCrae, R. R., Kurtz, J. E., Yamagata, S., & Terracciano, A. (2011). Internal consistency, retest reliability, and their implications for personality scale validity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(1), 28-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310366253 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310366253
Merino-Soto, C., Angulo-Ramos, M., Rovira-Millán, L.V., & Ro-sario-Hernández, E. (2023). Psychometric properties of the generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) in a sample of work-ers. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 999242. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.999242/full DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.999242
Merz, E. L., Malcarne, V. L., Roesch, S. C., Riley, N., & Sadler, G. R. (2011). A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis of the Pa-tient Health Questionnaire-9 among English- and Spanish-speaking Latinas. Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psycholo-gy, 17(3), 309-316. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023883 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023883
Muthén, L. K., and Muthén, B. O. (1998-2012). Mplus User’s Guide. Muthén & Muthén.
Nederhof,A.J. (1985). Methods of coping with social desirabilitybi-as: A review. European Journal of Social Psychology, 15(3), 263-280. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420150303 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420150303
Pagán-Torres, O.M., González-Rivera, J.A., & Rosario-Hernández, E. (2020). Reviewing the psychometric properties and factor structurre of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in a sample of Puerto Rican Adults. International Journal of Recent Scientific Research, 11(1), 36885-36888. https://doi.org/10.24327/IJRSR DOI: https://doi.org/10.24327/IJRSR
Parmač Kovačić, M., Galić, Z., & Jerneić, Ž. (2014). Social desirabil-ity scales as indicators of self-enhancement and impression management. Journal of Personality Assessment, 96(5), 532-543. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2014.916714 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2014.916714
Pons, J.I, Rosario-Hernández, E. & Mañón, S. (2009). Inteligencia Emocional: Hacia el Desarrollo y validación de un cuestionario para la evaluación de dimensiones de inteligencia emocional en adultos puertorriqueños. Revista Puertorriqueña de Medicina y Salud Pública, XVII, 55-62.
Ponterotto, J. G. & Ruckdeschel, D. E. (2007). An overview of coefficient alpha and a reliability matrix for estimating ade-quacy of internal consistency coefficients with psychological research measures. Perception and Motor Skills, 105, 997-1014. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.105.3.997-1014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.105.3.997-1014
Quiñones, M.M., Haddock, R.M. & Rosario-Hernández, E. (2015). Development and validation of an emotional intelligence scale for Puerto Rican students. Revista de Salud y Conducta Humana, 2(1), 23-34.
Quiñones-Freire, C., Vara, M.D., Tomás, J.M., & Baños, R.M. (2021). Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 in users of the Ecuadorian public health care system. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 53, 210-217. https://doi.org/10.14349/rlp.2021.v53.23 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14349/rlp.2021.v53.23
Rigdon, E. E. (1995). A necessary and sufficient identification rule for structural models estimated in practice. Multivariate Be-havioral Research, 30(3), 359-383. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3003_4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3003_4
Rivera, E., Pons, J.I., Rosario-Hernández, E. & Ortiz, N. (2008). Traducción y adaptación puertorriqueña del Inventario Bar-On de Cociente Emocional (Bar-On EQ-i): Análisis de propie-dades psicométricas. Revista Puertorriqueña de Psicología, 19, 148-182.
Rodríguez Montalbán, R., Martínez Lugo, M.E., & Sánchez-Cardona, I. (2014). Análisis de las Propiedades de la Escala de Engagement en el Trabajo de Utrecht en una muestra de tra-bajadores en Puerto Rico. Universitas Psychologica, 13(4), 1255-1266. https://dx.doi.org/10.11144/Javerina.UPSY13-4.appu DOI: https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.UPSY13-4.appu
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira-Millán, L.V. (2002). Desarrollo y validación de una escala para medir actitudes hacia el retiro. Revista Puertorriqueña de Psicología, 13, 45-60.
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira Millán, L.V. (2004). Desarrollo y validación de la Escala de Ciudadanía Organizacional. Revista Puertorriqueña de Psicología, 15, 1-25.
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira Millán, L.V. (2007). Desarrollo y validación de la Escala de Justicia Organizacional. Revista Ciencias de la Conducta, 22(1), 61-78.
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira Millán, L.V. (2008a). Desarrollo y validación del Índice de Conductas Laborales Con-traproducentes. Revista Interamericana de Psicología Ocupacion-al, 2008, 27(1), 16-27.
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira Millán, L.V. (2008b). Desarrollo y validación de la Escala de Contrato Psicológico Organizacion-al. Revista Caribeña de Psicología, 1(1), 16-23.
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira Millán, L.V. (2008c). Desarrollo y validación del Inventario de Estilos de Personalidad - Rosario Rovira (IEP-RR). Revista Interamericana de Psicología Ocupacion-al, 27(2), 103-118.
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira Millán, L.V. (2011). Desarrollo y validación de la Escala de Incivilidad Laboral. Revista Caribeña de Psicología, 2 (1), 1-14.
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira Millán, L.V. (2012). Desarrollo y validación de la Escala de Clima de Seguridad y Salud Ocu-pacional Percibida. Revista Interamericana de Psicología Ocu-pacional, 31 (1), 46-58.
Rosario-Hernández, E. & Rovira Millán, L.V. (2014). Desarrollo y validación del Inventario del Modelo Demandas-Control-Apoyo. Revista Interamericana de Psicología Ocupacional, 33 (2), 108-127. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21772/ripo.v33n2a03
Rosario-Hernández, E., Rovira Millán, L. V., Báez Tellado, E. M. & Soto Franceschini, J. A. (2011). Desarrollo y validación de la Escala de Actitudes Hacia las Personas Viejas en el Trabajo. Revista Ciencias de la Conducta, 26 (1), 29-48.
Rosario-Hernández, E., Rovira Millán, L.V., & Merino-Soto, C. (2021). Review of the Internal Structure, Psychometric Properties, and Measurement Invariance of the Work-Related Rumination Scale – Spanish Version. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.774472 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.774472
Rosario-Hernández, E., Rovira Millán, L.V., Vélez Ramos, J., Cruz, M., Vélez, E., Torres, G., Alomar, G., Caldera, J., Santiago, M., Arroyo, Y., Sánchez, I., & Rodríguez, N. (2018). Effect of the exposure to workplace bullying on turnover intention and the mediating role of job satisfaction, work engagement, and burnout. Revista Interamericana de Psicología Ocupacional, 37(1), 26-51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21772/ripo.v37n1a03
Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(2), 1-36. https://www.jstatsoft.org/v48/i02/ DOI: https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i02
Rovira-Millán, L.V., Blanco-Rovira, R.A., López-Iglesias, A.C., & Rosario-Hernández, E. (2023). Suicidal behavior at work scales: Development and validation of the Work-Related Sui-cidal Ideation, Defeat, and Entrapment Brief Scales. Revista Evaluar, 23(2), 1-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35670/1667-4545.v23.n2.42064
Rovira-Millán, L.V. & Rosario-Hernández, E. (2018). Desarrollo y validación del Indicador del Bienestar del Sueño. Revista Puer-torriqueña de Psicología, 29(2), 348-362.
Schaufeli, W., & Bakker, A. (2003). Utrecht work engagement scale: Preliminary manual. Occupational Health Psychology Unit, Utrecht University. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/t76451-000
Schaufeli, W.B., Salanova, M., González-Romá, V., Bakker, A.B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A confirmative analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3, 7-92. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015630930326 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015630930326
Smith, G. T., McCarthy, D. M., & Anderson, K. G. (2000). On the sins of short-form development. Psychological assess-ment, 12(1), 102–111. https://doi.org/10.1037//1040-3590.12.1.102 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//1040-3590.12.1.102
Spector, P. E. (1992). Summated rating scale construction: An intro-duction. SAGE Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986038
Steiger, J. H. (2007). Understanding the limitations of global fit assessment in structural equation modeling. Personality and Individual Differences, 42(5), 893-898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.09.017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.09.017
Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, prac-tices, and recommendations for organizational re-search. Organizational Research Methods, 3(1), 4-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002
van de Mortel, T.F. (2008) Faking it: Social desirability response bias in self-report research. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25, 40-48.
Veenhoven, R. (1991). Questions on happiness: Classical topics, modem answers, blind spots. In E. Strack, M. Argyle, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Subjective well-being: An interdisciplinary per-spective (pp. 7-26). Pergamon.
Wang, J. & Wang, X. (2012). Structural Equation Modeling Applica-tions Using Mplus. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118356258 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118356258
Zijlstra, W.P., van der Ark, L.A., & Sijtsma, K. (2011). Outliers in test and questionnaire data: Can they be detected and should they be removed? Journal of Educational and Behavioral statistics, 36(2), 186-212. https://doi.org/10.3102/1076998610366263 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/1076998610366263
Descargas
Publicado
Cómo citar
Número
Sección
Licencia
Derechos de autor 2025 Ernesto Rosario-Hernández, Lillian V. Rovira-Millán, Rafael A. Blanco-Rovira
Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución 4.0.
