Effect of Social Desirability and Self-Concept Scores on the Measurement of Adjustment

The study represented an attempt to assess the “true” nature of the relationships among measures of social desirability, self-concept, and level of adjustment. Positive linear relationships, of low to moderate magnitudes, were found for all three variables. These data do not support the traditional hypotheses that self-concept tests are saturated with social desirability, that social desirability is the primary component in the measurement of adjustment, nor that self-attitudes are the major variable in adjustment. An alternative system is presented for describing the psychometric relationships among these variables, with implications for viewing non-test correlates.