Abstract
Five studies were conducted to develop and validate a brief measure of socially desirable responding (SDR) for use in close relationships research, the Inventory of Desirable Responding in Relationships (IDRR). Specifically, a two-component measure of SDR was created to assess individuals' tendencies to: (i) deceive themselves, and (ii) deceive others regarding negative aspects of their close relationship. Study 1 employed exploratory factor analyses to isolate items that loaded on two factors, labeled Relationship Self-Deception (REL-SD) and Relationship Impression Management (REL-IM). Study 2 confirmed the factor structure obtained in Study 1 and provided evidence for a two-factor versus one-factor model of relationship SDR. Consistent with the hypotheses, Study 3 demonstrated that REL-IM scores are higher when generated in a public condition relative to an anonymous condition, whereas REL-SD scores remain unaffected by this manipulation. Consistent with the literature on the role of illusions in mental health, Study 4 demonstrated that REL-SD is associated with multiple indices of relationship health. Study 5 validated the scale on a sample of married adults and provided evidence of divergent validity. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
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