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Lie scales and the elderly

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Abstract

The results of 11 community-wide studies in which a short form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale was administered are summarized. In seven Australian studies significant correlations (ranging from 0.20 to 0.42) were found between the scale and age. In one study having mostly male respondents, however, no significant correlation was found. This led to the data from a ninth study being dissected into males and females. A significant correlation was then found for females only. Two further studies from West Germany and India gave results similar to the Australian findings. The results were interpreted to mean that older women seek to compensate for ‘Loss of looks’ by promoting themselves as having other virtues. These highly meaningful findings from use of a social desirability scale among the elderly tend to rebut attacks on the validity of such scales among the elderly.

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    Citation Excerpt :

    The findings indicate there was no significant difference in the level of social desirability by gender, however, there was a significant difference in social approval scores. The non-significant difference between males and females in the level of social desirability in the current study does not support our hypothesis that females would report significantly higher levels of social desirability compared with males, and contrasts others which indicate that females are generally higher in social desirability as a trait than males (Bernardi & Guptill, 2008; Hebert et al., 1995, 1997; Ray, 1988). This non-significant difference in the level of social desirability may be partially explained by the discrepancy in numbers of females compared with males, the smaller number of males may have limited the ability to identify a significant result, which was expected based on the previous literature (Bernardi & Guptill, 2008; Hebert et al., 1995, 1997; Ray, 1988).

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