Delroy Paulhus and colleagues (e.g., Paulhus & Reid, 1991) have conducted extensive research on the concept of self-deception (i.e., lying to oneself), including a scale called the Self-Deceptive Denial scale (as part of the larger BIDR inventory). These items assess the extent to which people are willing to lie to themselves by answering negatively on the scale, even though that the items on the scale are thought to reflect internal states that almost everyone has experienced at least once (e.g., I can't think of anyone I hate deeply; seeing an attractive person of the opposite sex makes me think about sex; I have never done anything I am ashamed of). By actually studying self-denial, Paulhus and colleagues are exploiting what threat to measurement validity?
A) language difficulty
B) mood
C) acquiescence
D) social desirability

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The study by Delroy Paulhus and colleagues is exploiting the threat to measurement validity known as social desirability, as participants may be hesitant to admit to experiences that are considered socially undesirable or shameful, leading them to lie to themselves and report lower scores on the scale.

Delroy Paulhus and Colleagues (E