An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of response set on response latency for items of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Data were equivocal with respect to the original hypotheses, but an unexpected, and possibly important, finding emerged: the higher the original need-approval score, the greater the drop in score in the experimental session. The finding is discussed in terms of its possible implications for studies relating need for approval to intentional hypothesis confirmation in social psychological experiments.
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