ReviewArchives of sexual behavior2022
The Influence of Social Desirability on Sexual Behavior Surveys: A Review.
Review in Archives of sexual behavior, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 127 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing explicit and implicit weight bias in healthcare students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- Chatbot-Delivered Real-Time Support to Improve HIV Self-Testing Rates: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- The impact of the SKILLZ intervention on sexual and reproductive health empowerment among Zambian adolescent girls and young women: results of a cluster randomized controlled trial.Reproductive health · 2025Trial
- HIV Prevalence, Virological Suppression, and Consistent Condom Use Among Social Venue-Going Men in Zimbabwe: Insights from the 2022 Priorities for Local AIDS Control Efforts (PLACE) Surveys.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
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- Article
- Long-acting reversible contraception, condom use and sexually transmitted infections in developing countries: a multi-country serial cross-sectional analysis using demographic and health surveys.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Identifying sexual health concerns, risk-taking and violence using the newly developed SEXIT Adult tool in a Swedish public outpatient sample.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Health morbidities in carers with experience of domestic violence and abuse.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- The design and use of ACASI to elicit sexual behaviour in the PHASE survey - the Gambian experience.Reproductive health · 2026Article
- Biopsychosocial Factors' Influence on PrEP-uptake Among Danish MSM.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Gaps in Effective HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Screening and Uptake Among Fishermen in Kenya.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Impact of organizational climate on the execution of infection prevention and control among Chinese medical staff: a multi-center cross-sectional explorative online survey.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Sexual Frustration and Sexual Assault Among Higher Education Students in France.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus types among women aged 30-49 years in the Chuy region, Kyrgyzstan.Infectious agents and cancer · 2026Article
- Development and psychometric validation of the Sexual Health Literacy Measurement Tool for Undergraduate Students (SHL-US) in Thailand.PloS one · 2026Article
- Motivational Pathways Diverge Between Frequent and Problematic Pornography Use.International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health · 2026Article
- Partnership-based sexual behaviours among adults in Singapore: a cross-sectional population survey.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Development and validation of the HPV-WAK questionnaire for assessing women's awareness and knowledge in Iran.PloS one · 2026Article
- Exploring Knowledge and Comfort with Genital Anatomical Terminology Among Young Adults.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Research in fields for which self-reported behaviors can be compared with factual data reveals that misreporting is pervasive and often extreme. The degree of misreporting is correlated with the level of social desirability, i.e., the need to respond in a culturally appropriate manner. People who are influenced by social desirability tend to over-report culturally desired behaviors and under-report undesired behaviors. This paper reviews socially desirable responding in sexual behavior research. Given the very private nature of the sexual activity, sex researchers generally lack a gold standard by which to compare self-reported sexual behaviors and have relied on the anonymity of participants as the methodology to assure honest answers on sexual behavior surveys. However, indirect evidence indicates that under-reporting (e.g., of a number of sexual partners, receptive anal intercourse, condom use) is common. Among the general population, several studies have now reported that even with anonymous responding, there are significant correlations between a variety of self-reported sexual behaviors (e.g., use of condoms, sexual fantasies, exposure to pornography, penis size) and social desirability, with evidence that extreme under- or over-reporting is as common as is found in other fields. When asking highly sensitive questions, sex researchers should always include a measure of social desirability and take that into account when analyzing their results.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.