Inattentive and Socially Desirable Responding

Researchers consistently have demonstrated the distorting effects that inattentive (responding without regard for survey content) and socially desirable (presenting one’s self in an overly positive way) responding can have on quantitative data. These threats to validity usually go undetected in counseling research, which is concerning given that counseling research often considers implications for practice and that research-based practice is in demand. In this article, the authors review practical approaches for detecting and addressing inattentive and socially desirable response tendencies in counseling research, thereby optimizing the validity of conclusions inferred from data.