Response 3: Derek Greene
With social desirability response bias, inaccurate self-reports are likely to be encountered in every management. I believe erroneous study conclusions are as a result of the same. The referenced source examines the relationship between social desirability response biases and self-reports of substance use, mental health, and social network factors among a community sample of substance users (Latkin 2017). From the same, a reflection of the situation at an organization’s level can be obtained. I believe market researchers suffer a lot from this issue because the respondents are likely to give wrong information to please the interviewer (Jidin 2017).
Researchers believe that social desirability bias in organizations is caused by strict measures, probably on the code of social conduct. In that case, I think a company where managers are under pressure will always find that their management is vulnerable to the issue. It will, however, be of little meaning for a company to have its management falling victims of social desirability bias in the face of stockholders because that implies that the company will always be on the verge of making losses. I believe it takes a company to offer a conducive environment for its management to find some sense of comfort while addressing issues relating to the companies (Latkin 2017). Likewise, the lower management officials might fall, victims of the case, if at all the top management is imposing stringent regulations or rather threats on them. With social desirability bias within a company, performance will always be stagnating or slightly falling because the issue does not offer a platform for challenging senior management. In other words, social desirability bias is much more of a disadvantage to a company if at all, it exists within the administration.
References
Jidin, R., & Monroe, G. S. (2017). Social desirability in behavioral accounting research. The Routledge companion to behavioral accounting research, 132-145.
Latkin, C. A., Edwards, C., Davey-Rothwell, M. A., & Tobin, K. E. (2017). The relationship between social desirability bias and self-reports of health, substance use, and social network factors among urban substance users in Baltimore, Maryland. Addictive behaviors, 73, 133-136.