The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale – Short Form (MCSDS-SF) is a short 13-item version of the original MCSDS that measures susceptibility to socially desirable responses. Of these 13 items, 5 are formulated as socially desirable (true) and 6 as socially undesirable (false). These are short and simple statements for which the respondent has to decide whether they are true for him or not.

Length of filling

Filling out the entire questionnaire will take approximately 3-5 minutes.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

After completing the questionnaire, the subject finds out whether or not they are prone to socially desirable responses.

Keywords

Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale – Short Form, MCSDS-SF, social desirability, social desirability

Scoring and interpretation

The total score is obtained by summing the scores of all items. Items 5, 7, 9, 10 and 13 are reversed. Higher scores indicate a greater tendency toward socially desirable responses.

Response scale

Respondents determine whether the statements are true (T=1) or false (L=2) for them.

References

Lavidas, K., & Gialamas, V. (2019). Adaptation and psychometric properties of the short forms Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale with a sample of Greek university students. European Journal of Education Studies, 6(8), 230-239. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3552531

Reynolds, W. M. (1982). Development of reliable and valid short forms of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Clinical Psychology, 38(1), 119-125. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232465362_Development_of_reliable_and_valid_short_forms_of_the_Marlow-Crowne_Social_Desirability_Scale

Reynolds, W. M. (2015). Copy of cmsds Short Form and scoring instructions. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280938637_Copy_of_cmsds_Short_Form_and_scoring_instructions