Social Desirability Bias In Online Surveys: An Experimental Assessment

Social scientists have long debated the extent to which social desirability bias affects online survey responses. We argue that the a priori most promising way to measure it is through a global manipulation at the survey's outset. If effective, this approach allows researchers to (1) isolate social desirability from confounders, (2) verify manipulation success, and (3) assess effects across multiple outcomes. Using well-powered survey experiments in the United States and Denmark, we provide a comprehensive assessment of how social desirability can be successfully manipulated and to what extent it biases online survey responses. Our findings show that some treatments fail to induce perceptions of being observed, while others succeed but do not alter outcomes most likely to be affected by social desirability bias. Beyond offering guidelines for future research designs, these results imply that researchers should be less concerned of social desirability bias in online surveys than previously thought.