Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale

The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) is a psychological assessment tool developed by Douglas P. Crowne and David Marlowe in 1960. It measures a person's tendency to respond in a socially desirable manner rather than truthfully, helping researchers control for response bias in self-reported data. The scale consists of 33 true-or-false questions designed to assess the extent of social desirability bias in an individual's responses.

A social desirability scale is a psychological instrument used to evaluate whether individuals answer questions truthfully or in a way that presents them in a more favorable light. It is commonly used in surveys and psychological assessments to identify response bias, ensuring more accurate data collection. The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) is one of the most widely used tools for measuring this bias.

Social desirability bias was originally developed as a concept by Alan Edwards, who identified it as a systematic source of test bias affecting self-reported responses. He argued that this bias could contaminate psychological assessments by influencing individuals to answer in ways that align with social approval rather than truthfulness.