The fact that survey respondents overreport voting in elections and the frequency of their church attendance is an example of ________.
A) the Hawthorne effect
B) the coattail effect
C) the social desirability effect
D) the bandwagon effect
E) the median voter theorem

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The overreporting of voting and church attendance in surveys is often attributed to the social desirability effect, where respondents may feel pressure to give socially desirable responses rather than truthful ones. This effect can lead to an exaggeration of certain behaviors or attitudes in survey data. The Hawthorne effect refers to a situation where subjects alter their behavior due to the knowledge of being observed, while the coattail effect and bandwagon effect are related to the influence of other people's opinions or behaviors on one's own. The median voter theorem is a concept in political science that relates to the idea that in a two-party system, both parties will tend to converge towards the political center to appeal to the largest number of voters.

The Fact That Survey Respondents Overreport Voting in Elections and the Frequency