Social Desirability Bias in Likert Scale Design: Concerns and Suggestions

Abstract

The Likert scale is used commonly by researchers to obtain data of a human’s internal state. However, the Likert scale also faces the problem of bias (i.e., social desirability bias) in the respondent’s response. Factors leading to the social desirability bias are wording style in the questions, the culture, and the heuristic process. As controlling the social desirability bias, statistical techniques, special techniques to elicit truthful answers from sensitive questions, or changing the designs of the questionnaires are applied. This review article covers information about the social desirability bias and suggests an idea to develop a time controlling method for the researchers to develop in future research.