The Impact of Social Desirability Biases on Self-Report Among College Student and Problem Gamblers

The impacts of two types of social desirability bias, self-deceptive enhancement (SDE) and impression management (IM), were examined on self-reports of gambling problems, measured by the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), and recent gambling behavior, as measured by the Timeline Followback (TLFB) method, in a sample of college students (N = 191), and a sample of treatment-seeking problem gamblers (N = 49). Consistent with our expectations, IM was negatively associated with SOGS scores in both samples. IM was most highly correlated with SOGS scores among treatment-seeking participants (r = −.44, p < .01). Substantial numbers of participants in both samples had high enough IM scores as to call into question the validity of their self-report gambling data, according to published interpretive guidelines. With respect to SDE, we had predicted that it would be positively related to gambling behaviors and gambling-related problems, but found that SDE was inversely related to SOGS scores in both samples. Very little evidence was found for social desirability effects on TLFB scores. Thus, preliminary evidence was obtained that self-report data on gambling problems, but not on gambling behavior (frequency of gambling and amount of time and money spent), may be susceptible to the effects of impression management in both college students and treatment-seeking gamblers.     

Towards an evaluation of a business school graduate programme

An evaluation research methodology, which has been validated in a previous study, and which was developed to be both scientifically defensible and feasible from a practical point of view, is described. This involves collecting course participants' judgements about the effects of the course, and taking steps to ensure that the process by which the participants arrive at these judgements is sound. The application of this methodology to a course in business administration revealed the following effects or consequences: (1) Access to and progress in successful careers; (2) Flexibility and mobility in careers; (3) Ability to take overall view of problems; (4) Personal confidence; (5) Awareness of own aspirations and career fit; (6) Frustration from unused skills and unfulfilled expectations; (7) High salaries; (8) General reasoning and problem solving ability; (9) Economic/commercial understanding; (10) Understanding of organisation and human behaviour; (11) Useful work, career and personal contacts; (12) Social skills.