Social desirability responding in the measurement of assertive behavior.

Investigated social desirability responding in the measurement of assertive behavior. 30 22–56 yr old middle-class women completed self-report and analogue behavioral measures of assertion and anxiety before and after assertiveness training. The measures included the Assertion Inventory, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and role-played assertiveness scenes during a telephone call. Consistent with social desirability theory and research, high social desirability scorers described themselves as more assertive and less anxious than low scorers, but were behaviorally less assertive than low scorers. Although both high and low scorers improved their assertion skills, high scorers did not appear less anxious after assertiveness training, unlike low scorers. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)