Abstract
This study showed that the “socially desirable” presentation for a heterosexual male gender dysphoric is one that emphasizes traits and behaviors characteristic of “classic” transsexualism. Fifty-one homosexual and 64 heterosexual adult male gender patients were administered the Crowne-Marlowe (1964) Social Desirability Scale as well as eight questionnaire measures that tapped various features of the clinical history commonly given great weight in differential diagnosis. The tendency for a heterosexual subject to describe himself in terms of moral excellence or admirable personal qualities was significantly correlated with scores in the “transsexual” direction on all eight sexological measures; for the homosexual subjects, only one correlation was significant. It is argued that the patients most motivated to create a favorable impression on the examiner are likely to be those most anxious to obtain approval for sex reassignment surgery. Because, in this population, the socially desirable presentation is “feminine,” it is possible that the differences in the histories produced by transvestites and heterosexual transsexuals are exaggerated to an unknown degree by the motivation of the latter to obtain approval for this operation. The findings do not diminish the important distinction between these groups, but they do suggest caution in interpreting the self-report data that have been used in comparing them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abel, G. G., Barlow, D. H., Blanchard, E. B., and Mavissakalian, M. (1975). Measurement of sexual arousal in male homosexuals: Effects of instructions and stimulus modality.Arch. Sex. Behav. 4: 623–629.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980).Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.). APA Washington, D.C.
Baker, H. J. (1969). Transsexualism—Problems in treatment.Amer. J. Psychiat. 125: 1412–1418.
Bancroft, J. (1972). The relationship between gender identity and sexual behavior: Some clinical aspects. In Ounsted, C., and Taylor, D. C. (eds.),Gender Differences: Their Ontogeny and Significance Churchill Livingstone, London.
Benjamin, H. (1966).The Transsexual Phenomenon. Julian Press, New York.
Blanchard, R. (1985a). Research methods for the typological study of gender disorders in males. In Steiner, B. W. (ed.),Gender Dysphoria: Development, Research, Management Plenum Press, New York.
Blanchard, R. (1985b). Typology of male-to-female transsexualism.Arch. Sex. Behav. 14: 247–261.
Blanchard, R., Steiner, B. W., and Clemmensen, L. H. (1985). Gender dysphoria, gender reorientation, and the clinical management of transsexualism.J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 53: 295–304.
Buhrich, N., and McConaghy, N. (1977). The clinical syndromes of femmiphilic transvestism.Arch. Sex. Behav. 6: 397–412.
Buhrich, N., and McConaghy, N. (1978). Two clinically discrete syndromes of transsexualism.Brit. J. Psychiat. 133: 73–76.
Buhrich, N., and McConaghy, N. (1979). Three clinically discrete categories of fetishistic transvestism.Arch. Sex. Behav. 8: 151–157.
Bullough, V., Bullough, B., and Smith, R. (1983). A comparative study of male transvestites, male to female transsexuals, and male homosexuals.J. Sex Res. 19: 238–257.
Crowne, D. P., and Marlowe, D. (1964).The Approval Motive: Studies in Evaluative Dependence. Wiley, New York.
Freund, K. (1963). A laboratory method for diagnosing predominance of homo- or hetero-erotic interest in the male.Behav. Res. Ther. 1: 85–93.
Freund, K. (1977). Psychophysiological assessment of change in erotic preferences.Behav. Res. Ther. 15: 297–301.
Freund, K. (1985). Cross gender identity in a broader context. In Steiner, B. W. (ed.),Gender Dysphoria: Development, Research, Management Plenum Press, New York.
Freund, K., Langevin, R., Satterberg, J., and Steiner, B. W. (1977). Extension of the Gender Identity Scale for males.Arch. Sex. Behav. 6: 507–519.
Freund, K., Steiner, B. W., and Chan, S. (1982). Two types of cross gender identity.Arch. Sex. Behav. 11: 49–63.
Henson, D. E., and Rubin, H. B. (1971). Voluntary control of eroticism.J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 4: 37–47.
Laws, D. R., and Rubin, H. B. (1969). Instructional control of an autonomic sexual response.J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 2: 93–99.
McLaughlin, S. D. (1982). Reply to Birnbaum.Amer. Psychol. 37: 1142–1144.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978).Psychometric Theory (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill, New York.
Quinsey, V. L., and Bergersen, S. G. (1976). Instructional control of penile circumference in assessments of sexual preference.Behav. Ther. 7: 489–493.
Robinson, J. P., and Shaver, P. R. (1973).Measures of Social Psychological Attitudes. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Rosen, R. C. (1973). Suppression of penile tumescence by instrumental conditioning.Psychosom. Med. 35: 509–514.
Rosen, R. C., Shapiro, D., and Schwartz, G. E., (1975). Voluntary control of penile tumescence.Psychosom. Med. 37: 479–483.
Rubin, H. B., and Henson, D. E. (1975). Voluntary enhancement of penile erection.Bull. Psychon. Soc. 6: 158–160.
Wiggins, J. (1968). Personality structure.Ann. Rev. Psychol. 19: 293–350.
Worden, F. G., and Marsh, J. T. (1955). Psychological factors in men seeking sex transformation.J.A.M.A. 157: 1292–1298.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blanchard, R., Clemmensen, L.H. & Steiner, B.W. Social desirability response set and systematic distortion in the self-report of adult male gender patients. Arch Sex Behav 14, 505–516 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541751
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541751