Abstract
Social desirability bias (SDB) is one of the main concerns in self-reported studies that measures explicit attitudes such as ethics research. Although SDB was introduced since the early 1950s, little effort has been made to understand the necessity of including an SDB scale in studies of sensitive topics such as ethics. The purpose of this paper was to (1) identify whether current ethics-related studies considered SDB when conducting their research and (2) ascertain whether SDB was a significant variable in such studies. This investigation takes the form of a systematic review of articles published within the last 20 years in well-known business ethics journals (2000–2019). We found that (a) only 13.67% of ethics research measured SDB; (b) although the majority of the reviewed articles were from the West, researchers in Asia have also made significant progress in recent years in measuring SDB in their studies; (c) SDB was used mainly as a control variable and as such researchers preferred scales with fewer items; and (d) SDB was unavoidable even when using online surveys. Based on our findings, we attempt to provide an overview of SDB in ethics research and encourage ethics researchers who adopt self-reported surveys to include an SDB measurement in their studies to control SDB.
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References
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This work was supported by the Universiti Putra Malaysia under Grant: GP-IPS/2018/9604400.
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Appendix
Appendix
No | Reviewed article | Type of SDB scale | Type of respondents/location of study | Usage of SDB | Category | Was SDB significant? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Chia, A. & Lim, S. M. (2000). The effects of issue characteristics on the recognition of moral issues. Journal of Business Ethics, 27(3), 255–269. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 187 respondents (executives, managers or professionals in the private or public sector) from Singapore | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
2. | Larkin, J. M. (2000). The ability of internal auditors to identify ethical dilemmas. Journal of Business Ethics, 23(4), 401–409. | The shortened version of MCSDS (17-items) | 64 members at an internal audit department from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
3. | Latif, D. A. (2000). The link between moral reasoning scores, social desirability, and patient care performance scores: empirical evidence from the retail pharmacy setting. Journal of Business Ethics, 25(3), 255–269. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Reynolds, 1982’s 13-items scale] | 114 community pharmacists from the U.S | Independent variable and control variable | Ethical decision making | Yes. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with moral reasoning. |
4. | Yetmar, S. A. & Eastman, K. K. (2000). Tax practitioners ' ethical sensitivity: A model and empirical examination. Journal of Business Ethics, 26(4), 271–288. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 413 tax practitioners from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Yes. A total of 65 respondents were removed from the study because they gave socially desirable answers in more than 50% of the questions. |
5. | Lim, G. S. & Chan, C. (2001). Ethical values of executive search consultants. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(3), 213–226. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 65 search consultants from Singapore | Control variable for pre-screening | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
6. | Ryan, J. J. (2001). Moral reasoning as a determinant of organizational citizenship behaviors: a study in the public accounting profession. Journal of Business Ethics, 33(3), 233–244. | The shortened version of MCSDS (6 items) | 116 public accountants and professional personnels from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, and job tenure. |
7. | Arnett, D. B. & Hunt, S. D. (2002). Competitive irrationality: The influence of moral philosophy. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(3), 279–303. | The shortened version of MCSDS | 365 MBA/eMBA students from the U.S | Control variable | Moral philosophy | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
8. | Uddin, N. & Gillett, P. R. (2002). The effects of moral reasoning and self-monitoring on CFO intentions to report fraudulently on financial statements. Journal of Business Ethics, 40(1), 15–32. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Fischer and Fick (1993)’s 6-item scale] | 139 top management (including CEO, CFO, and treasurers) from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
9. | Valentine, S. & Barnett, T. (2002). Ethics codes and sales professionals ' perceptions of their organizations ' ethical values. Journal of Business Ethics, 40(3), 191–200. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item scale] | 214 sales managers from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
10. | Valentine, S. & Fleischman, G. (2002). Ethics codes and professionals’ tolerance of societal diversity. Journal of Business Ethics, 40(4), 301–312. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item scale] | 143 business and legal professionals from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
11. | Fleischman, G. & Valentine, S. (2003). Professionals’ tax liability assessments and ethical evaluations in an equitable relief innocent spouse case. Journal of Business Ethics, 42(1), 27–44. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)’s 10-item scale] | 214 certified public accountants, attorneys, and human resource managers from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with ethical decision of general relief decision. |
12. | Shaw, T. R. (2003). The moral intensity of privacy: An empirical study of webmaster ' s attitudes. Journal of Business Ethics, 46(4), 301–318. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 359 webmasters through online survey. No mention of location. | Control variable | Moral philosophy | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
13. | Valentine, S. & Fleischman, G. (2003). Ethical reasoning in an equitable relief innocent spouse context. Journal of Business Ethics, 45(4), 325–339. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item scale] | 357 accounting, legal and human resource professionals from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with the ethical decision of grant equitable relief. |
14. | Valentine, S. & Fleischman, G. (2003). The impact of self-esteem, Machiavellianism, and social capital on attorneys’ traditional gender outlook. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(4), 323–335. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972) | 106 attorneys from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, and occupational tenure. |
15. | Bernardi, R. A. & Vassill, K. M. (2004). The association among bribery and unethical corporate actions: an international comparison. Business Ethics: A European Review, 13(4), 342–353. | Impression Management scale from the BIDR (Paulhus, 1991) | 506 business major students from Canada, the U.S, Spain, and Ireland. | Control variable | Organizational ethics | Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with bribery and unethical corporate actions. |
16. | Connelly, S., Helton-Fauth, W., & Mumford, M. D. (2004). A managerial in-basket study of the impact of trait emotions on ethical choice. Journal of Business Ethics, 51(3), 245–267. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 197 college students from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
17. | Valentine, S. & Fleischman, G. (2004). Ethics training and businesspersons’ perceptions of organizational ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 52(4), 391–400. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)) | 308 business professionals from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
18. | Watley, L. D. & May, D. R. (2004). Enhancing moral intensity: the roles of personal and consequential information in ethical decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 50(2), 105–126. | Impression Management scale from the BIDR (Paulhus, 1989) | 314 members of the American Management Association (AMA) from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Partially. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with perception of proximity dimension, while not significantly correlated with magnitude of consequences, dimension of moral intensity, and ethical behavioral intent. |
19. | Andersson, L., Shivarajan, S., & Blau, G. (2005). Enacting ecological sustainability in the MNC: a test of an adapted value-belief-norm framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 59(3), 295–305. | The shortened version of MCSDS (10 items) | 294 managers and above from the U.S, the U.K, and India. | Control variable | Environmental ethics | Yes. SDB was found to have limited (low) impact on self-reporting from supervisors on environmental support. |
20. | Buchan, H. F. (2005). Ethical decision making in the public accounting profession: an extension of Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 61(2), 165–181. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972) | 95 employees from five public accounting firms from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
21. | Deshpande, S. P., Joseph, J., & Prasad, R. (2006). Factors impacting ethical behavior in hospitals. Journal of Business Ethics, 69(2), 207–216. | Over-claiming scale (Randall & Fernandes, 1991) | 203 members of hospitals from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with ethical behavior of successful manager, while not significantly correlated with ethical behavior of self and co-workers and education in ethics. - SDB was not significantly correlated with gender and race. |
22. | Valentine, S., & Page, K. (2006). Nine to five: skepticism of women ' s employment and ethical reasoning. Journal of Business Ethics, 63(1), 53–61. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972) | 195 university students from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making/demographic factor | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, education, and job tenure. |
23. | Chan, R. Y., Wong, Y. H. and Leung, T. K. (2008). Applying ethical concepts to the study of “green” consumer behavior: an analysis of Chinese consumers ' intentions to bring their own shopping bags. Journal of Business Ethics, 79(4), 469–481. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Reynolds, 1982’s Form C scale] | 250 consumers from China. | Control variable | Environmental Ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
24. | Valentine, S. & Fleischman, G. (2008). Ethics programs perceived corporate social responsibility, and job satisfaction. Journal of Business Ethics, 77(2), 159–172. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item scale] | 313 business professionals through online survey. No mention of location. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with age, while not significantly correlated with gender and job tenure. |
25. | White, D. W. & Lean, E. (2008). The impact of perceived leader integrity on subordinates in a work team environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(4), 765–778. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Andrews & Meyer’s, 2003 MC Form C] | 245 MBA students from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics | Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with ethical situation impacting specific teammates while negatively correlated with ethical situation impacting overall team and organization. |
26. | Collins, J. D., Uhlenbruck, K. & Rodriguez, P. (2009). Why firms engage in corruption: a top management perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(1), 89–108. | BIDR (Paulhus, 1991) | 341 executives from India. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with the view that corruption was harmful, while significant negatively correlated with propensity to engage in corrupt transactions and rationalize practices of corruption. - SDB was not significantly correlated with position. |
27. | Shawver, T. J. & Sennetti, J. T. (2009). Measuring ethical sensitivity and evaluation. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(4), 663–678. | BIDR (Paulhus, 1991) | 54 students through online survey. No mention of location. | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
28. | Ho, J. A. (2010). Ethical perception: are differences between ethnic groups situation dependent? Business Ethics: A European Review, 19(2), 154–182. | The shortened version of MCSDS (10-items) | 272 managerial level executives from Malaysia. | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
29. | Fu, W., Deshpande, S. P., & Zhao, X. (2011). The impact of ethical behavior and facets of job satisfaction on organizational commitment of Chinese employees. Journal of Business Ethics, 104(4), 537–543. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item scale] | 214 employees working at a Chinese state-owned steel company from China. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, job experience and job type. |
30. | O'Fallon, M. J. & Butterfield, K. D. (2011). Moral differentiation: exploring boundaries of the “monkey see, monkey do” perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(3), 379–399. | The shortened version of MCSDS (13-item scale) | 655 undergraduate business students from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with ethical behavior, introversion, observers’ unethical behavior, while significantly and negatively correlated with moral identity. - SDB was significant negatively correlated with age, while not significantly correlated with gender and education. |
31. | Valentine, S., Godkin, L., Fleischman, G. M., & Kidwell, R. (2011). Corporate ethical values, group creativity, job satisfaction, and turnover intention: The impact of work context on work response. Journal of Business Ethics, 98(3), 353–372. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)’s 10-item scale] | Study 1: 781 healthcare and administrative employees from the U.SStudy 2: 127 sales and marketing employees from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables in Study 1 and 2. |
32. | Valentine, S., Godkin, L., Fleischman, G. M., Kidwell, R. E., & Page, K. (2011). Corporate ethical values and altruism: the mediating role of career satisfaction. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(4), 509–523. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)’s 10-item scale] | 781 employees working in four campuses and regional health science centers in the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
33. | Valentine, S. R., & Bateman, C. R. (2011). The impact of ethical ideologies, moral intensity, and social context on sales-based ethical reasoning. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(1), 155–168. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Richins and Dawson (1992)’s 10-item scale] | 389 business students from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with idealism and relativism of ethical ideologies, while not significantly correlated with recognition of ethical issue and ethical intention of ethical reasoning and social consensus of moral intensity. |
34. | Cojuharenco, I., Shteynberg, G., Gelfand, M., & Schminke, M. (2012). Self-construal and unethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(4), 447–461. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)’s 11-item scale) | 607 full-time employees from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Yes. SDB was only measured in study 3. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with organizational fairness, utilitarian, formalist, working unethical behavior, and survey cheating. - SDB was significant positively correlated with age, while not significantly correlated with gender and race. |
35. | Fu, W. & Deshpande, S. P. (2012). Antecedents of organizational commitment in a Chinese construction company. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(3), 301–307. | Over-claiming scale (Randall & Fernandes, 1991) | 144 employees working at a Chinese private construction company from China. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with caring climate and rules climate of ethical climate, while not significantly correlated with professional climate, instrumental climate, efficiency climate, and independence climate of ethical climate. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, and type of job. |
36. | Fu, W. & Deshpande, S. P. (2012). Factors impacting ethical behavior in a Chinese state-owned steel company. Journal of Business Ethics, 105(2), 231–237. | Over-claiming scale (Randall & Fernandes, 1991) | 208 employees of a Chinese state-owned steel company from China. | Control variable | OrganizationalEthics/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with the ethical behavior of self, while not significantly correlated with ethical behavior of co-worker and successful manager, and ethical climate. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, type of job, and job experience. |
37. | Lowe, D. J. & Reckers, P. M. (2012). An examination of the contribution of dispositional affect on ethical lapses. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(2), 179–193. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 63 mid-level managers located in the U.S | Control variable in pre-testing | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
38. | Mudrack, P. E., Bloodgood, J. M., & Turnley, W. H. (2012). Some ethical implications of individual competitiveness. Journal of Business Ethics, 108(3), 347–359. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Reynolds (1982)’s 13-item scale) | 263 senior-level undergraduate business students from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making/demographic variables | - Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with the ethical judgement, ethical intention, and idealism ethical ideologies. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age. |
39. | O’Fallon, M. J. & Butterfield, K. D. (2012). The influence of unethical peer behavior on observers ' unethical behavior: a social cognitive perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(2), 117–131. | The shortened version of MCSDS (13-item scale) | 600 undergraduate business students from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with unethical peer behavior and observer’s unethical behavior. - SDB was significant negatively correlated with age, while not significantly correlated with gender and education. |
40. | Valentine, S. & Hollingworth, D. (2012). Moral intensity, issue importance, and ethical reasoning in operations situations. Journal of Business Ethics, 108(4), 509–523. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)’s 10-item scale] | 527 business professionals (from all business functional areas) from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with temporal immediacy dimension of moral intensity and perceived importance of ethical issue and ethical judgement dimensions of ethical reasoning while not significantly correlated with seriousness of consequences, social consensus, proximity dimensions of moral intensity, and recognition of ethical issues and ethical intention dimensions of ethical reasoning. |
41. | Bateman, C. R., Valentine, S., & Rittenburg, T. (2013). Ethical decision making in a peer-to-peer file sharing situation: the role of moral absolutes and social consensus. Journal of Business Ethics, 115(2), 229–240. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Randall and Fernandas, 1991) | 387 undergraduate business students from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with idealism ethical ideologies, while not significantly correlated with ethical reasoning, moral absolutism, and social consensus. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with working experiences while not significantly correlated with gender. |
42. | Wurthmann, K. (2013). A social cognitive perspective on the relationships between ethics education, moral attentiveness, and PRESOR. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(1), 131–153. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Hays et al., (1989)’s 5-items scale] | 224 upper division undergraduate students from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with stakeholder view of PRESOR but not significantly correlated with moral attentiveness, ethics education, and stockholder view of PRESOR. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with age. |
43. | Antonetti, P. & Maklan, S. (2014). Feelings that make a difference: how guilt and pride convince consumers of the effectiveness of sustainable consumption choices. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 117–134. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Reynolds, 1982) | 181 Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) respondents from the U.S through online survey. | Control variable in pre-testing | Environmental ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
44. | Fu, W. (2014). The impact of emotional intelligence, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction on ethical behavior of Chinese employees. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(1), 137–144. | Over-claiming scale (Randall and Fernandas, 1991) | 507 employees from China. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with the ethical behavior. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with gender, age and job type, while not significantly correlated with work years. |
45. | May, D. R., Li, C., Mencl, J., & Huang, C. C. (2014). The ethics of meaningful work: types and magnitude of job-related harm and the ethical decision-making process. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(4), 651–669. | BIDR (Paulhus, 1989) | 185 Chinese professionals from China. | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with moral evaluation and moral intention dimensions of ethical reasoning but not significantly correlated with moral recognition dimension. |
46. | May, D. R., Luth, M. T., & Schwoerer, C. E. (2014). The influence of business ethics education on moral efficacy, moral meaningfulness, and moral courage: a quasi-experimental study. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 67–80. | BIDR (Paulhus, 1991) | 84 business students from the U.S | Control variable | Moral philosophy/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with moral meaningfulness, while not significantly correlated with moral courage and moral efficacy in pre-test and post-test. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with work experience. |
47. | Salvador, R. O., Merchant, A. & Alexander, E. A. (2014). Faith and fair trade: the moderating role of contextual religious salience. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(3), 353–371. | BIDR (Paulhus, 1991) | Study 1: 92 students from the U.S Study 2: 146 business students from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with age and religious in study 2 but not in study 1, while not significantly correlated with gender. |
48. | Steinbauer, R., Renn, R. W., Taylor, R. R., & Njoroge, P. K. (2014). Ethical leadership and followers’ moral judgment: the role of followers’ perceived accountability and self-leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 120(3), 381–392. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Reynolds, 1982’s Form A] | 101 proteges at the institute for leadership education from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
49. | Valentine, S., Nam, S. H., Hollingworth, D., & Hall, C. (2014). Ethical context and ethical decision making: examination of an alternative statistical approach for identifying variable relationships. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(3), 509–526. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item] | 187 business professionals from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with ethical judgment, ethical intention, and corporate ethical values, while not significantly correlated with perceived importance of ethical issue and recognition of ethical issue dimensions of ethical reasoning, ethical culture, and corporate social responsibility. |
50. | Yeow, P., Dean, A., & Tucker, D. (2014). Bags for life: the embedding of ethical consumerism. Journal of Business Ethics, 125(1), 87–99. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 316 respondents from the U.K | Control variable | Environmental ethics | Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with environmental impact and quality and desirability of “bags for life.” |
51. | Albert, L. S., Reynolds, S. J., & Turan, B. (2015). Turning inward or focusing out? Navigating theories of interpersonal and ethical cognitions to understand ethical decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(2), 467–484. | BIDR (Paulhus, 1984; 1988) | Study 1: 430 individuals holding managerial positions from the U.S Study 2: 250 undergraduate business students from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Study 1: Yes. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with high social consensus ethical behaviors but not low social consensus ethical behaviors. Study 2: Yes. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with illegal behaviors. |
52. | Bodur, H. O., Duval, K. M., & Grohmann, B. (2015). Will you purchase environmentally friendly products? Using prediction requests to increase choice of sustainable products. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(1), 59–75. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Steenkamp et al., 2010) | 101 undergraduate business students from Canada. | Control variable | Environmental ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
53. | Hollingworth, D. & Valentine, S. (2015). The moderating effect of perceived organizational ethical context on employees’ ethical issue recognition and ethical judgments. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(2), 457–466. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item scale] | 144 employees from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with corporate ethical values and ethical judgment, while not significantly correlated with ethical culture, corporate social responsibility, and recognition of an ethical issue. |
54. | Holtbrugge, D., Baron, A., & Friedmann, C. B. (2015). Personal attributes, organizational conditions, and ethical attitudes: a social cognitive approach. Business Ethics: A European Review, 24(3), 264–281. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Reynolds (1982)’s Form C) | 215 employees from Germany through online survey. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic factor. | - No. SDB was not significant with any ethics variables. - SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with age, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. |
55. | Verbos, A. K. & Miller, J. S. (2015). When harm is at stake: ethical value orientation, managerial decisions, and relational outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(1), 149–163. | BIDR (Paulhus, 1991) | 89 participants from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
56. | Yu, Y. M. (2015). Comparative analysis of Jones ' and Kelley’s ethical decision-making models. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(3), 573–583. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Fraboni and Copper, 1989) | 354 civil servants from Taiwan. | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Yes. 33 questionnaires were discarded due to high scores in the MCSDS, indicating the presence of SDB. |
57. | Hutter, K., Hoffmann, S., & Mai, R. (2016). Carrotmob: a win-win approach to creating benefits for consumers, businesses, and society at large. Business & Society, 55(7), 1059–1077. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)’s 10-item scale] | 337 consumers from Germany. | Control variable | Environmental ethics | No. SDB was not significant correlated with any ethics variables. |
58. | Kacmar, K. M., & Tucker, R. (2016). The moderating effect of supervisor’s behavioral integrity on the relationship between regulatory focus and impression management. Journal of Business Ethics, 135(1), 87–98. | Impression management scale (Bolino & Turnley, 1999) | 133 foresters from the U.S | Dependent variables | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age. |
59. | Long, C. P. (2016). Mapping the main roads to fairness: examining the managerial context of fairness promotion. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(4), 757–783. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 152 managers from the U.S through online survey. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with age and working experiences but not significantly correlated with gender and tenure. |
60. | Raineri, N. & Paille, P. (2016). Linking corporate policy and supervisory support with environmental citizenship behaviors: the role of employee environmental beliefs and commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(1), 129–148. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Fischer and Fick (1993)’s 6-item scale] | 531 employees from France. | Control variable | Environmental ethics/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significant and positively correlated environmental policy, while not significantly correlated with environmental beliefs and environmental commitment. - SDB was significant and negatively correlated with level of education, while not significantly correlated with age, tenure, and job level. |
61. | Sendjaya, S., Pekerti, A., Härtel, C., Hirst, G., & Butarbutar, I. (2016). Are authentic leaders always moral? The role of Machiavellianism in the relationship between authentic leadership and morality. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(1), 125–139. | The shortened version of MCSDS (10-item scale) | 70 managers in a large public agency from Australia. | Control variable | Ethical decision making | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
62. | Tian, Q. & Peterson, D. K. (2016). The effects of ethical pressure and power distance orientation on unethical pro-organizational behavior: the case of earnings management. Business Ethics: A European Review, 25(2), 159–171. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)’s 10-item scale) | 354 accountants from China. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic Variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with ethical beliefs in support of the company while negatively correlated with perceived ethical pressure but not significantly correlated with earning management. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with education, while not significantly correlated with age, gender, and tenure. |
63. | Xu, Z. X. & Ma, H. K. (2016). How can a deontological decision lead to moral behavior? The moderating role of moral identity. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(3), 537–549. | Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Lie (EPQ Lie) scale (Qian et al. 2000) | 437 people who were enrolled in Sojump website from Asian countries through online survey. | Control variable | Ethical decision making/demographic variables | - No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. - SDB was significantly and positively correlated with age. |
64. | Alexandra, V., Torres, M. M., Kovbasyuk, O., Addo, T. B., & Ferreira, M. C. (2017). The relationship between social cynicism belief, social dominance orientation, and the perception of unethical behavior: a cross-cultural examination in Russia, Portugal, and the United States. Journal of Business Ethics, 146(3), 545–562. | BIDR (Steenkamp et al., 2010) | Study 1: 586 undergraduate students from Russia and the U.S through online survey. Study 2: 334 working professionals from Portugal and the U.S through online survey. | Control variable | Ethical decision making/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with perceived unethical behaviors in study 2 but not in study 1. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, and working experience in any of the study. |
65. | Sturm, R. E. (2017). Decreasing unethical decisions: the role of morality-based individual differences. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(1), 37–57. | The full version of MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) | 199 undergraduate students from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making/ demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with reflective moral attentiveness, while not significantly correlated with perceptual moral attentiveness, ethical prototypes, and cheating decision. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, and GPA. |
66. | Triki, A., Cook, G. L., & Bay, D. (2017). Machiavellianism, moral orientation, social desirability response bias, and anti-intellectualism: a profile of canadian accountants. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(3), 623–635. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Reynolds, 1982’s Form C] | 93 professional accountants from Canada. | Independent variable | Ethical decision making | Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with Idealism but not relativism of moral orientation. |
67. | Wurthmann, K. (2017). Implicit theories and issue characteristics as determinants of moral awareness and intentions. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(1), 93–116. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Hays et al., 1989) | Study 3: 256 working undergraduate students in the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | - Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with moral awareness, while not significantly correlated with moral intention in study 3. |
68. | Alleyne, P., Hudaib, M., & Haniffa, R. (2018). The moderating role of perceived organizational support in breaking the silence of public accountants. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(3), 509–527. | Impression Management scale from the BIDR (Paulhus, 1988) | 226 public accountants from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was positively and significantly correlated with personal responsibility for reporting an unethical act, while not significantly correlated with whistle-blowing intentions and attitudes toward whistle-blowing. - SDB was positively and significantly correlated with gender but not significantly correlated with tenure. |
69. | Bossuyt, S. & Van Kenhove, P. (2018). Assertiveness bias in gender ethics research: why women deserve the benefit of the doubt. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(3), 727–739. | Impression Management scale from the BIDR (Paulhus, 1988) | Study 1: 154 students and university staff from Europe. Study 2: 204 students and university staff from Europe. | Control variable | Ethical decision making/ Demographic variables | - Yes. SDB has a significant effect on honest reactions and doubting reactions. - The results also showed that women are more inclined to provide socially desirable answers than men. |
70. | Gorsira, M., Denkers, A., & Huisman, W. (2018). Both sides of the coin: motives for corruption among public officials and business employees. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(1), 179–194. | Self-constructed 7-items social desirability scale for work context | 402 public officials and business employees from Europe through online survey. | Control variable | Organizational ethics | Yes. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with corruption-proneness |
71. | Lee, G., Pittroff, E., & Turner, M. J. (2018). Is a uniform approach to whistle-blowing regulation effective? Evidence from the United States and Germany. Journal of Business Ethics, 1–24. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Fischer and Fick (1993)’s 6-item scale] | 182 employees working as accounting role (98 respondents from the U.S and 84 respondents from Germany) | Control variable | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
72. | Sguera, F., Bagozzi, R. P., Huy, Q. N., Boss, R. W., & Boss, D. S. (2018). The more you care, the worthier I feel, the better I behave: how and when supervisor support influences (un)ethical employee behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 153(3), 615–628. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Reynolds, 1982’s 6-items scale] | Study 1: 200 working adults from the U.S through online survey. | Control variable | Organizational ethics | Yes. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with counterproductive workplace behaviors. |
73. | Valentine, S., Fleischman, G., & Godkin, L. (2018). Villains, victims, and verisimilitudes: an exploratory study of unethical corporate values, bullying experiences, psychopathy, and selling professionals’ ethical reasoning. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(1), 135–154. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item scale] | 356 working adults from the U.S | Control variable | Organizational ethics | Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with moral intensity, perceived importance of the ethical issue, ethical judgment, and ethical intention while negatively correlated with bullying experiences and unethical corporate value. |
74. | Johnson, H. H., & Umphress, E. E. (2019). To help my supervisor: identification, moral identity, and unethical pro-supervisor behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(2), 519–534. | BIDR [Paulhus, 1991’s 18 items] | Study 2: 250 full-time employees from the U.Sthrough online survey. | Control variable | Organizational ethics | Partially. SDB was negatively and significantly correlated with moral identity (internalized), while not significantly correlated with career self-interest and unethical pro-supervisor behavior. |
75. | Lythreatis, S., Mostafa, A. M. S., & Wang, X. (2019). Participative leadership and organizational identification in SMEs in the MENA Region: testing the roles of CSR perceptions and pride in membership. Journal of Business Ethics, 156(3), 635–650. | 4-item Social Desirability Bias scale (Donavan et al., 2004). | 740 employees from SME (260 respondents from UAE, 268 from Lebanon, and 212 from North Africa). | Pre-test | Organizational ethics | No. SDB was not significantly correlated with any ethics variables. |
76. | Mackey, J. D., McAllister, C. P., & Alexander, K. C. (2019). Insubordination: validation of a measure and an examination of insubordinate responses to unethical supervisory treatment. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04231-7 | The shortened version of MCSDS (Fischer and Fick (1993)’s 7-item Revised X1 scale) | Study 5: 287 working adults from the U.S through online survey. | Control variable | Organizational ethics | Partially. SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with unfairness with the supervisor and insubordination, while not significantly correlated with injustice with supervisor and abusive supervision. |
77. | Stober, T., Kotzian, P., & WeiBenberger, B. E. (2019). Culture follows design: code design as an antecedent of the ethical culture. Business Ethics: A European Review, 28(1), 112–128. | German version 3-items BIDR-6 (Winkler, Kroh, and Spiess (2006) | 143 students and academic staff from Germany through online survey. | Control variable | Ethical decision making/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB (impression management) was positively and significantly correlated with environmentalism, idealism, and religiosity, while not significantly correlated with egoism and relativism. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, and working experiences. |
78. | Tormo-Carbó, G., Oltra, V., Klimkiewicz, K., & Seguí-Mas, E. (2019). “Don’t try to teach me, I got nothing to learn”: management students’ perceptions of business ethics teaching. Business Ethics: A European Review, 28(4), 506–528. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972) | 307 management students from Poland. | Control variable | Ethical decision making/demographic variables | - Partially. SDB was positively and significantly correlated with the group where the student who participated in the business ethics courses tend to score higher than students who did not participate, while not significantly correlated with perceived importance of ethics. - SDB was not significantly correlated with age, gender, and working experience. |
79. | Valentine, S. R., Hanson, S. K., & Fleischman, G. M. (2019). The presence of ethics codes and employees’ internal locus of control, social aversion/malevolence, and ethical judgment of incivility: a study of smaller organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 160, 657–674. | The shortened version of MCSDS [Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972’s 10-item scale] | 158 employees from the U.S | Control variable | Ethical decision making | Partially. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with ethical judgment, while not significantly correlated with presence of ethics code. |
80. | Wang, T., Long, L., Zhang, Y., & He, W. (2019). A social exchange perspective of employee–organization relationships and employee unethical pro-organizational behavior: the moderating role of individual moral identity. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(2), 473–489. | The shortened version of MCSDS (Strahan and Gerbasi (1972)) | 73 middle-level manager and 256 employees from China. | Control variable | Organizational ethics/demographic variables | - Yes. SDB was significantly and positively correlated with unethical pro-organization behavior. - SDB was significantly and negatively correlated with education, while not significantly correlated with age and company tenure. |
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Tan, H.C., Ho, J.A., Teoh, G.C. et al. Is social desirability bias important for effective ethics research? A review of literature. Asian J Bus Ethics 10, 205–243 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13520-021-00128-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13520-021-00128-9