Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale

1. Abstract

The Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (specifically the 20-item composite form designated as M-C (20), developed by Robert Strahan and Kathleen C. Gerbasi in 1972) is one of the most widely utilized psychometric instruments designed to detect, quantify, and control for social desirability bias in self-report research. Derived from the original 33-item inventory developed by Douglas P. Crowne and David Marlowe in 1960, the M-C (20) isolates behaviors that are culturally sanctioned, socially approved, and morally commendable, yet possess a low empirical base rate of genuine execution, contrasted against minor, ubiquitous human frailties that carry social disapproval. The scale assesses an individual’s propensity toward defensive self-presentation, impression management, and the pervasive need for social approval. Comprising 20 dichotomous (True/False) items, the scale incorporates balanced directional keying: 10 items keyed in the socially desirable direction when endorsed as “True” (attributions of improbable virtues) and 10 items keyed when endorsed as “False” (denials of universal personal flaws). Across multiple validation cohorts, the M-C (20) demonstrates robust internal consistency, with Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) coefficients typically spanning .62 to .75 and Cronbach’s alpha values ranging between .66 and .76, while retaining correlations upwards of .90 with the full 33-item Marlowe-Crowne parent instrument. Confirmatory factor analytic investigations have continually corroborated its functional unidimensionality for operational control purposes, while identifying meaningful sub-dimensions related to deliberate impression management versus self-deceptive enhancement. This article provides an exhaustive psychometric exposition of the M-C (20), detailing its foundational origins, theoretical underpinnings, structural validity, internal and temporal reliability, factor analytic properties, scoring paradigms, and administrative utility within clinical and behavioral research.

2. Keywords

Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Short Marlowe-Crowne, M-C (20), social desirability bias, response bias, impression management, need for approval, self-deceptive enhancement, psychometrics, Strahan and Gerbasi

3. Authors

The short forms of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, including the 20-item version (M-C (20)) and its two constituent 10-item sub-forms (M-C 1(10) and M-C 2(10)), were developed and validated by:

• Robert F. Strahan, Ph.D. — Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States. Dr. Strahan contributed extensively to quantitative psychology, psychometrics, measurement reduction, and statistical methodology in behavioral research.
• Kathleen C. Gerbasi, Ph.D. — Department of Psychology, Niagara County Community College and State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, New York, United States. Dr. Gerbasi’s research focuses on social psychology, psychometric test adaptation, and behavioral assessment.

These short forms trace directly to the foundational 33-item instrument constructed by:

• Douglas P. Crowne, Ph.D. — Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; formerly of Ohio State University.
• David Marlowe, Ph.D. — Formerly of the Department of Psychology, Harvard University, and Chief of Behavioral Sciences at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D.C., United States.

4. Purpose

The primary purpose of the Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale is to measure individual differences in the tendency to present oneself in an excessively favorable light by endorsing culturally approved but highly improbable behavioral statements and denying universally shared, minor human shortcomings. In psychological testing, self-report inventories remain the primary vehicle for assessing personality, emotional states, psychopathology, attitudes, and interpersonal orientations. However, self-report methodology is inherently vulnerable to systematic response distortion, most notably social desirability bias. The M-C (20) was designed to mitigate the administrative burden and respondent fatigue induced by the full 33-item scale while preserving its high diagnostic accuracy and psychometric precision.

In behavioral and clinical research, the M-C (20) serves three major methodological functions: assessment of response validity, statistical control as a covariate, and independent measurement of a personality construct. As a screening tool, the scale enables researchers and clinicians to identify test-takers whose profiles on substantive personality batteries (such as the NEO Personality Inventory, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, or clinical depression indices) are contaminated by dissimulation, faking good, or defensive denial. When applied as a statistical covariate in multivariate analyses (such as ANCOVA or structural equation modeling), the M-C (20) partials out variance attributable to self-presentational distortion, isolating substantive trait variance.

Beyond functioning as a methodological detector of bias, the scale measures a substantive personality trait: the need for social approval. Individuals with elevated scores on the M-C (20) are not merely lying on tests; they demonstrate a generalized behavioral orientation characterized by conformity, vulnerability to social influence, avoidance of interpersonal conflict, defensive suppression of hostile or aggressive impulses, and heightened sensitivity to normative expectations. In clinical and forensic settings, the scale is routinely deployed in parental custody evaluations, pre-employment screening for positions of high public trust (e.g., law enforcement, aviation), and criminal risk assessments where the motivation to project an unblemished moral and psychological facade is acute.

5. Psychological Construct

The psychological construct evaluated by the Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale is multidimensional in operational practice, though unified under the overarching concept of socially desirable responding (SDR). Psychometrically and conceptually, the construct represents a person’s systematic tendency to provide self-descriptions that conform to culturally defined behavioral ideals rather than reflecting their true thoughts, feelings, or actions.

Historically, psychological measurement conflated social desirability with psychopathology. Early measures, such as Allen Edwards’ (1957) Social Desirability Scale, were constructed using items derived primarily from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). As a consequence, Edwards’ scale correlated excessively with measures of anxiety, neuroticism, and general adjustment ($r = -.80$ to $-.85$), making it virtually impossible to separate defensiveness from genuine freedom from psychological distress. Crowne and Marlowe (1960) solved this confound by deliberately formulating items whose content was entirely non-pathological, focusing instead on everyday moral conduct, social etiquette, and common ethical challenges.

The construct measured by the M-C (20) is defined by two primary operational strategies:

• Attribution of Improbable Virtues: The endorsement of positive, socially revered behaviors that possess exceptionally low real-world base rates of occurrence. For example, claiming “I’m always willing to admit it when I make a mistake” or “I am always courteous, even to people who are disagreeable.” While society upholds these as absolute moral maxims, empirical human behavior rarely achieves complete fidelity to them. Endorsing these items indicates a proactive effort to claim idealized moral status.
• Denial of Common Human Frailties: The rejection of minor, pervasive human vices that carry mild social disapproval but are virtually universal. For instance, denying statements such as “I like to gossip at times,” “There have been occasions when I took advantage of someone,” or “I can remember ‘playing sick’ to get out of something.” Rejection of these statements suggests an inability or unwillingness to acknowledge ordinary human limitations.

Modern psychometrics, guided by the taxonomies of Delroy L. Paulhus (1984, 2002), further partitions social desirability into two psychological components: Impression Management (IM) and Self-Deceptive Enhancement (SDE). Impression management represents conscious, purposeful dissimulation designed to deceive an external audience to secure social rewards or evade sanctions. Conversely, self-deceptive enhancement represents an unconscious, deeply internalized positive bias where the individual genuinely believes their inflated self-appraisals. Factor-analytic and experimental studies demonstrate that the Marlowe-Crowne items heavily reflect impression management, showing marked shifts under high-demand evaluative situations (e.g., job interviews) compared to anonymous baseline conditions, though a non-trivial degree of rigid, ego-defensive self-deception is also captured.

6. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework underpinning the Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale is rooted in Julian Rotter’s Social Learning Theory (1954) and Douglas Crowne and David Marlowe’s (1964) subsequent reformulation of response biases as manifestations of a pervasive need for approval. Rather than dismissing socially desirable responding as an annoying testing artifact or measurement error, Crowne and Marlowe conceptualized SDR as a stable personality trait governed by specific motivational dynamics.

According to this theoretical architecture, human behavior is directed toward the attainment of generalized reinforcement. Individuals vary in their subjective expectancy that social approval can be achieved and that social rejection or disapproval can be avoided. Those possessing a high need for approval experience heightened anxiety regarding potential negative evaluation. Consequently, they develop an extensive behavioral repertoire designed to minimize interpersonal conflict, win acceptance from authority figures, and maintain social harmony at the expense of authentic self-expression. In testing environments, this need manifests as a systematic inflation of virtues and deflation of vices.

The theoretical paradigm is also enriched by Erving Goffman’s (1959) sociological formulation of self-presentation and “impression management.” Goffman posited that in everyday social interactions, individuals act as performers on a stage, curating their expressive behavior to convey an idealized image of the self that aligns with institutional expectations. When completing a self-report instrument, particularly within institutional contexts (e.g., employment, clinical diagnosis, legal proceedings), the questionnaire serves as a formal stage where the respondent feels compelled to present an untarnished persona.

Furthermore, the M-C (20) incorporates principles from psychodynamic defense mechanisms, specifically rationalization, reaction formation, and repression. High Marlowe-Crowne scorers have consistently demonstrated a “repressive coping style” (Weinberger, Schwartz, & Davidson, 1979). When confronted with stressful, threatening, or ego-dystonic stimuli, repressors report low subjective distress on self-report instruments while simultaneously exhibiting elevated physiological reactivity (e.g., elevated heart rate, heightened skin conductance, galvanic skin responses). Thus, the theoretical framework of the M-C (20) bridges cognitive-behavioral social learning, sociological impression management, and somatic-affective repressive adaptation.

7. Validity

Extensive psychometric investigations have established the validity of the Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale across multiple methodological paradigms, confirming that the 20-item version retains the diagnostic validity of the parent instrument.

Construct and Convergent Validity

The construct validity of the M-C (20) is supported by high correlations with the original 33-item Marlowe-Crowne scale. Strahan and Gerbasi (1972) documented correlations of $r = .90$ to $.96$ between the M-C (20) and the full scale, demonstrating that item reduction does not degrade the core operationalized construct. In comparative studies using alternative short forms (such as Reynolds’ Form A, B, and C), the 20-item variant consistently displays superior shared variance with the full instrument ($R^2 > .85$).

Convergent validity is documented through robust associations with external measures of response bias and impression management. The M-C (20) correlates strongly with the Impression Management (IM) subscale of the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; $r = .65$ to $.75$), the Lie (L) scale of the MMPI ($r = .55$ to $.68$), and the Good Impression (Gi) scale of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; $r = .50$ to $.62$). These associations confirm that the instrument accurately captures overt self-presentational strategies across diverse assessment formats.

Discriminant Validity

Crucially, the M-C (20) exhibits satisfactory discriminant validity against measures of psychopathology, emotional distress, and cognitive ability. Unlike Edwards’ Social Desirability Scale, which shares up to 70% of its variance with measures of trait anxiety and depressive symptomatology, the M-C (20) typically shares less than 10% to 15% of variance with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and general neuroticism scales ($r$ values typically between $-.18$ and $-.32$). This confirms that elevated scores reflect defensiveness and social approval seeking rather than genuine psychological adjustment. Additionally, correlations with general intelligence (IQ) and cognitive aptitude batteries are negligible ($r = -.05$ to $.08$), establishing independence from cognitive ability.

Predictive and Criterion Validity

In experimental settings, high scorers on the M-C (20) exhibit behavioral tendencies predicted by Crowne and Marlowe’s original framework. High scorers show significantly greater conformity in Asch-type conformity paradigms, exhibit greater susceptibility to social influence and verbal conditioning, demonstrate elevated levels of defensive projection when threatened with negative feedback, and report significantly lower levels of anger and aggression during experimentally induced frustration. In applied organizational studies, the scale reliably differentiates between applicants completing assessments under high-stakes selection scenarios versus non-evaluative research settings, with mean scores in applicant groups shifting upward by 1.0 to 1.5 standard deviations.

8. Reliability

The reliability of the Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-C 20) has been evaluated across diverse populations, establishing strong internal consistency and temporal stability.

Internal Consistency

Because the M-C (20) utilizes a dichotomous True/False response format, internal consistency was originally calculated using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20), which is mathematically equivalent to Cronbach’s alpha for binary data. In their seminal validation study, Strahan and Gerbasi (1972) examined two independent university cohorts:

• Male Participants: The KR-20 reliability coefficient was documented at $.62$ in their initial developmental sample and $.70$ in an expanded cross-validation sample.
• Female Participants: The KR-20 reliability coefficient was documented at $.75$ in the initial developmental sample and $.66$ in the cross-validation sample.

Subsequent psychometric evaluations across clinical, collegiate, and community samples have reported Cronbach’s alpha coefficients routinely falling between $.70$ and $.78$. While slightly lower than the full 33-item scale (which historically yields alphas around $.80$ to $.88$), this reduction is psychometrically expected due to halving the item pool (as modeled by the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula). The reliability per unit of testing time is markedly superior in the 20-item form.

Split-Half and Temporal Reliability

Split-half reliability assessments, utilizing the Spearman-Brown corrected prophecy formula, have revealed split-half coefficients ranging from $.72$ to $.79$. When evaluated across temporal intervals, the M-C (20) demonstrates remarkable stability. Test-retest reliability studies over periods ranging from two weeks to six months yield stability coefficients between $r_{tt} = .75$ and $r_{tt} = .84$, confirming that the scale captures a stable personality style rather than a transient, fluctuating state.

9. Factor Analysis

The internal factor structure of the Marlowe-Crowne scale has been a subject of extensive empirical inquiry. While Strahan and Gerbasi (1972) selected items to maximize homogeneous unidimensionality, factor-analytic investigations (utilizing both Exploratory Factor Analysis [EFA] and Confirmatory Factor Analysis [CFA]) reveal a nuanced latent structure.

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

Early principal component analyses conducted on the full Marlowe-Crowne battery frequently yielded a dominant general factor accounting for a substantial portion of common variance, supporting the operational practice of summing items into a single total score. However, when multiple factors are extracted, a two-factor orthogonal or oblique solution consistently emerges across empirical datasets. These two factors correspond directly to the directional keying of the items:

• Factor 1: Attribution of Socially Desirable Characteristics (Claiming Virtues): Composed of items keyed “True” (e.g., Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15). Factor loadings for these items typically range from $.38$ to $.65$. This factor reflects the active projection of an idealized moral and altruistic character.
• Factor 2: Denial of Socially Undesirable Characteristics (Disowning Faults): Composed of items keyed “False” (e.g., Items 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20). Factor loadings typically range from $.40$ to $.68$. This factor reflects defensive inhibition and the active repudiation of universally acknowledged human vices.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

Contemporary CFA studies evaluating the M-C (20) have compared three competing structural models: a strict unidimensional model, an uncorrelated two-factor model, and a correlated two-factor model. Across multiple structural equation modeling studies (e.g., Barger, 2002; Loo & Thorpe, 2000), the correlated two-factor model (Attribution vs. Denial) demonstrates superior goodness-of-fit:

• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): Ranges from $.91$ to $.95$, outperforming the unidimensional model (CFI typically $.82$ to $.86$).
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): Consistently exceeds $.90$ in adequately powered samples.
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): Ranges between $.042$ and $.058$ (with $90%$ confidence intervals well below the $.08$ threshold for acceptable fit).
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): Typically under $.05$.

The correlation between the latent Attribution and Denial factors is moderate to high ($r = .45$ to $.62$), suggesting that while they represent distinct communicative strategies, they are driven by the same underlying psychological imperative: the need for social approval. In clinical and applied research, the use of the unified composite score remains standard practice due to its high correlation with the full scale and its overall parsimony.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

• Instrument Name: Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (also identified as M-C (20) or Strahan & Gerbasi Form M-C 1(10) + M-C 2(10) Composite).
• Instrument Type: Self-administered psychological assessment / response bias detection inventory.
• Administration Format: Paper-and-pencil questionnaire, computerized testing battery, or web-based survey.
• Item Count: 20 items.
• Estimated Completion Time: 3 to 5 minutes.
• Target Population: Adolescents and adults (reading level approximately 6th grade / age 12 and above).
• Response Format: Dichotomous choice: True or False.
• Scoring Methodology:
  • One point (1) is awarded for each response aligned with the socially desirable direction.
  • Zero points (0) are awarded for non-socially desirable responses.
  • Direct-Keyed Items (Keyed “True” = 1 point): Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
  • Reverse-Keyed Items (Keyed “False” = 1 point): Items 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
  • Total Score Range: 0 to 20 points.
• Score Interpretation Guidelines:
  • 0 to 7 (Low Social Desirability): Indicates high candor, unconventionality, openness regarding personal flaws, or potential “faking bad” (malingering/symptom exaggeration) in forensic contexts. The individual is unconcerned with social conventions or evaluation.
  • 8 to 13 (Average / Moderate Social Desirability): Represents typical, normative responding. The individual balances realistic self-criticism with ordinary self-presentation. Substantive self-report scales are generally valid and uncompromised.
  • 14 to 20 (High Social Desirability): Indicates pronounced defensive self-presentation, strong need for approval, rigid conformity, or active dissimulation (“faking good”). Substantive self-report scores (e.g., personality traits, clinical distress) should be interpreted with extreme caution and cross-validated with objective collateral data.

11. Permissions, Fee, and Test Year

Test Year: The Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-C (20)) was originally published in 1972 by Robert Strahan and Kathleen C. Gerbasi in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, adapting the parent instrument established by Douglas P. Crowne and David Marlowe in 1960.

Permissions and Licensing: The Short Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale resides within the public domain for academic, scientific, clinical, and non-commercial educational research. No formal licensing fees, royalties, or written publisher permissions are required to administer, score, or adapt the scale for non-commercial research, provided appropriate academic attribution and citation are accorded to the original developers (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972; Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). If integrated into proprietary software platforms, commercial pre-employment testing batteries, or fee-generating clinical assessment systems, researchers and organizations must adhere to fair-use standards and relevant institutional ethical guidelines.

12. References

Barger, S. D. (2002). The Marlowe-Crowne Likert and True-False forms: Comparison of factor-structures and scoring approaches. Personality and Individual Differences, 33(7), 1187–1196. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00007-8

Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24(4), 349–354. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0047358

Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: Studies in evaluative dependence. John Wiley & Sons.

Edwards, A. L. (1957). The social desirability variable in personality assessment and research. Dryden Press.

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Doubleday Anchor Books.

Kielpikowski, M. M. (2011). Family dynamics and children’s outcomes: The role of silent interparental conflict (Doctoral dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington). Victoria University Institutional Repository. http://hdl.handle.net/10063/1884

Loo, R., & Thorpe, K. (2000). Confirmatory factor analyses of the full and short versions of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. The Journal of Social Psychology, 140(5), 628–635. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540009600503

Paulhus, D. L. (1984). Two-component models of socially desirable responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(3), 598–609. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.46.3.598

Paulhus, D. L. (2002). Socially desirable responding: The evolution of a construct. In H. I. Braun, D. N. Jackson, & D. E. Wiley (Eds.), The role of constructs in psychological and educational measurement (pp. 49–69). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Reynolds, W. M. (1982). Development of reliable and valid short forms of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38(1), 119–125. https://doi.org/10.1037/10788-000

Strahan, R., & Gerbasi, K. C. (1972). Short, homogeneous versions of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28(2), 191–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.88.4.369

13. Items of the Scale