Response biases and their relation to sex differences in multiple domains of self-concept

Sex differences on self-concept measures often fit stereotypical patterns in which women score higher in verbal and artistic domains and men score higher in math and physical domains. However, sex differences in performance sometimes do not parallel these differences in self-perception. To explore one possible explanation for this inconsistency, we examined the possible influence of two forms of socially desirable responding (SDR) on scores within 17 domains of self-concept. Significant sex differences were found in 12 of those domains, which accounted for 1% to 8% of the variance in self-concept scores. The sex differences emerged in stereotypical patterns and showed little change after controlling for self-deception-the unintentional form of SDR. However, after controlling for impression management-the intentional form of SDR-sex differences in many domains decreased with some dropping to nonsignificant levels. These findings raise the possibility that impression management may be responsible in part for apparent sex differences in some domains of self-concept.