Survey measures of democratic attitudes and social desirability bias
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6445306 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pedro C Magalhães (0000-0001-8934-4552, Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, corresponding author), Laurits F Aarslew (0000-0001-6082-0797, Aarhus University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-15 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Science Research and Methods (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2049-8470 • E-ISSN: 2049-8489 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/psrm.2025.10044 |
| OpenAlex | W4414146478 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 64 |
Research on citizens’ democratic support predominantly relies on surveys. However, the possibility of social desirability biases (SDBs) raises doubts about whether such instruments capture sincere attitudes. We search for evidence of SDB in measures of democratic attitudes in three studies. The first two leverage variations in survey mode (self-completion vs. face-to-face) in the European Social Survey’s Democracy module, drawing on evidence that interviewer absence encourages voicing socially undesirable opinions. The third uses a double-list experiment to estimate the prevalence of an anti-democratic attitude. Using data from as many as 24 European countries, we find no evidence that SDB inflates survey measures of democratic attitudes. These results contribute to our understanding of democratic attitudes and to methodological toolkit for interested scholars
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| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |