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Struggling to be liked: The prospective effect of trait self‐control on social desirability and the moderating role of agreeableness
Author(s) -
Stavrova Olga,
Kokkoris Michail D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1002/ijop.12444
Subject(s) - psychology , agreeableness , trait , personality , social psychology , self control , social desirability , big five personality traits , interpersonal communication , population , control (management) , developmental psychology , extraversion and introversion , demography , management , sociology , computer science , economics , programming language
Drawing from the literature on the interpersonal functions of self‐control, we examined longitudinal associations between trait self‐control and social desirability, using a survey of the general population in the Netherlands. Trait self‐control at baseline was positively associated with social desirability at a follow‐up, even when controlling for prior levels of social desirability. That is, high self‐control contributed to individuals' tendency to give socially desirable responses in self‐reports. This effect was moderated by individual differences in agreeableness. Highly agreeable individuals were more likely to “use” their self‐regulatory resources to respond in a socially desirable manner, compared to less agreeable individuals, suggesting that individuals might use self‐regulatory resources in a way consistent with the motivational bases of their personality.