The social desirability bias aligns with the social norms that dictate how people should present themselves, irrespective of what they actually do or think, resulting in answers that conform to perceived expectations. It relates to self-reporting in self-report inventories, questionnaires, or interviews. Holding these social attitudes can result in people reporting less frequently how much they drink, or more frequently how much charitable activity they undertake. The distorting impact of social desirability bias on research findings can be profound and pervasive. Psychologists employ efforts to lessen this effect, including anonymous questionnaires, indirect inquiries, and specific validity scales. It relates directly to the research and clinical environment, where social contexts influence intrusive information, and self-perception or self-identities are a result of how the information is construed or shaped.
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