2010/03/01 by Allyson L. Holbrook, A. L. Holbrook, Jon A. Krosnick +1 · 546 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Econometrics #Economics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #General Social Survey #Law #Misrepresentation #National election #Non-response bias #Political science #Psychology #Response bias #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Social desirability #Social desirability bias #Social psychology #Survey Methodology and Nonresponse #Turnout #Voting
paper · doi:10.1093/poq/nfp065
published in Public Opinion Quarterly 74(1), 37-67 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2010/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Surveys usually yield rates of voting in elections that are higher than official turnout figures, a phenomenon often attributed to intentional misrepresentation by respondents who did not vote and would be embarrassed to admit that. The experiments reported here tested the social desirability response bias hypothesis directly by implementing a technique that allowed respondents to report secretly whether they voted: the “item count technique.” The item count technique significantly reduced turnout reports in a national telephone survey relative to direct self-reports, suggesting that social desirability response bias influenced direct self-reports in that survey. But in eight national surveys of American adults conducted via the Internet, the item count technique did not significantly reduce turnout reports. This mode difference is consistent with other evidence that the Internet survey mode may be less susceptible to social desirability response bias because of self-administration.