Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale

Abstract

The 20-item Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale (M-C 20), also known as the M-C 1(10) or Short Form-1(10), is a highly utilized psychological scale developed by Strahan and Gerbasi (1972). This instrument functions as a brief, homogeneous alternative to the original 33-item Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS). Its primary function is to measure the tendency of respondents to exhibit social desirability bias—the inclination to present an overly favorable self-image by claiming culturally sanctioned behaviors and denying minor, common flaws. It is widely applied in research to identify and control for response distortion in self-report measures of personality and attitudes.

Keywords

Social Desirability, Marlowe-Crowne, Short Form, M-C 20, Response Bias, Personality Assessment, Psychological scale, Approval Need.

Authors

Strahan, R., Gerbasi, K. C.

Purpose

The core purpose of the Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale is to assess and quantify the degree of social desirability influence on an individual’s responses during psychological testing or survey completion. High scores on this scale indicate a strong tendency toward presenting oneself in a highly positive, culturally approved light, often distorting the true representation of attitudes or behaviors.

Strahan and Gerbasi (1972) specifically created this shortened version to provide researchers with a more efficient and internally consistent measure compared to the original MCSDS. This efficiency is critical in large-scale studies or when administration time is limited, allowing researchers to quickly screen for potential response style bias.

Construct

The scale measures the psychological construct of Social Desirability (SD). This construct reflects a personality trait characterized by the need for approval and the motivation to avoid disapproval. The items are designed to capture two dimensions of this behavior: (1) attribution of unrealistically virtuous behaviors (e.g., “I never resent being asked to return a favour”) and (2) denial of common, minor undesirable impulses or actions (e.g., “I like to gossip at times”).

The M-C 20 operates on the premise that if an individual claims to universally possess virtues or never experience minor flaws that are common among the general population, their self-report is likely influenced by social desirability response bias rather than truthful self-appraisal.

Validity

As a direct derivative of the established Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the M-C 20 benefits from the extensive construct and criterion validity demonstrated by the original instrument. The shortening process undertaken by Strahan and Gerbasi (1972) was intended to increase the homogeneity of the items, thereby enhancing the internal consistency and ensuring that the items more purely measure the singular dimension of social approval motivation.

This focus on homogeneity supports the scale’s ability to function effectively as a control variable, providing a reliable index of response distortion that can be statistically controlled for when analyzing other personality or attitude measures.

Reliability

The reliability of the M-C 20 was assessed using internal consistency measures in the original 1972 validation study. The scale demonstrated acceptable to good reliability coefficients, particularly within student populations.

Specifically, the Kuder-Richardson reliability coefficients (KR-20, used for dichotomous items) for the M-C 20 were reported as 0.62 in a sample of male students and 0.75 in a sample of female students. Furthermore, the alpha reliability coefficients were found to be 0.70 with college males and 0.66 with college females (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972). These figures confirm the measure’s adequate internal consistency, supporting its use in research settings.

Factor Analysis

The development goal of the M-C 20 was to create a homogeneous version of the original MCSDS. This objective implies that the scale is intended to be unidimensional, meaning all 20 items load strongly onto a single underlying factor: the drive toward social desirability.

While the source material does not provide specific factor loadings or eigenvalue data, the selection of items was guided by maximizing internal consistency and minimizing multidimensionality, affirming its status as a single-factor measure of response bias.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale

Format: Dichotomous (True/False)

Language Available: English (Original)

Population Group: General population, widely used in academic and research settings.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults.

Population Details: Validation studies primarily utilized samples of college students (both male and female).

Test Methodology: Respondents answer True or False to 20 statements. Items are scored based on the socially desirable response (either True or False). Scoring requires careful attention to the reverse-coded items (Items 6-10).

Keywords

Response Style, Self-Report Bias, Measurement, M-C 1(10), Kuder-Richardson, Alpha coefficients, Homogeneity, Need for Approval.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and published in 1972. As a classic, non-proprietary instrument published in an academic journal, the Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale is generally available for non-commercial academic research without requiring a fee. Researchers should, however, cite the original Strahan & Gerbasi (1972) publication. This instrument can be found online at: http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4286/m1/70/.

Reference’s

• Strahan, R., & Gerbasi, K. C. (1972). Short, homogeneous versions of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28(2), 191-193.
• Kielpikowski, Magdalena Maria. (2011). Family Dynamics and Children’s Outcomes: the Role of Silent Interparental Conflict. Victoria University of Wellington. Doctoral thesis.

Items of the Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale

The response format is True or False. Items 6-10 are reverse-coded.

1. I’m always willing to admit it when I make a mistake.
2. I always try to practice what I preach.
3. I never resent being asked to return a favour.
4. I have never been irked when people expressed ideas very different from my own.
5. I have never deliberately said something that hurt someone’s feelings
6. I like to gossip at times.
7. There have been occasions when I took advantage of someone.
8. I sometimes try to get even rather than forgive and forget.
9. At times I have really insisted on ha‎ving things my own way.
10. There have been occasions when I felt like smashing things.
11. I never hesitate to go out of my way to help someone in trouble.
12. I have never intensely disliked anyone.
13. When I don’t know something I don’t at all mind admitting it.
14. I am always courteous‚ even to people who are disagreeable.
15. I would never think of letting someone else be punished for my wrong doings.
16. I sometimes feel resentful when I don’t get my way.
17. There have been times when I felt like rebelling against people in authority even though I knew they were right.
18. I can remember “playing sick” to get out of something
19. There have been times when I was quite jealous of the good fortune of others.
20. I am sometimes irritated by people who ask favors of me.