A psychosocial portrait of defensive responders in the Quebec longitudinalstudy on aging

The objective of this study was to identify the psychosocial characteristic s of participants who obtained a high social desirability score on the meas ures in the Quebec Longitudinal Study on Aging (QUELSA). Two groups were dr awn from the 1997 QUELSA sample (n=780) according to the scores obtained on a social desirability scale (high or low). These two groups were compared on the scores obtained on the main psychosocial variables of the QUELSA. Th e results show that individuals who give desirable responses tend to obtain higher scores on instruments measuring "self-image" features. Consequences of this bias are discussed.