Confirmatory factor analyses of the full and short versions of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale

Over the years, researchers have developed various short versions of the Ma rlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (D. P. Crowne & D. Marlowe, 1960). T he authors used confirmatory factor analyses (J. L. Arbuckle, 1997) as well as item and scale analyses to evaluate the adequacy of the full version an d various short versions. Overall, the results from 232 Canadian undergradu ates showed (a) that all the short versions in the present study are a sign ificant improvement in fit over the 33-item full scale and (b) that W. M. R eynolds's (1982) Forms A and B are the best fitting short versions. No gend er differences were found for the full scale or any of the short versions. The results show that the full scale could be improved psychometrically and that the psychometrically sound short versions should be available because they require less administration time than the full scale.