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Social desirability bias

Social desirability bias is a type of response bias. It is a phenomenon that happens when respondents give answers that they think will make them look good to others, rather than the truth. The result is an underreporting of undesirable behaviour and an overreporting of desirable behaviour. This type of response bias is often present in studies about sensitive or personal topics.
 
For example, when asked ‘how many times did you exercise last month?’ many respondents would overreport their activity, because exercise is generally seen as good behaviour. 

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