Measuring social desirability bias in a multi-ethnic cohort sample: its relationship with self-reported physical activity, dietary habits, and factor structure

Teh, Wen Lin; Abdin, Edimansyah; P.V., Asharani; Siva Kumar, Fiona Devi; Roystonn, Kumarasan; Wang, Peizhi; Shafie, Saleha; Chang, Sherilyn; Jeyagurunathan, Anitha; Vaingankar, Janhavi Ajit; Sum, Chee Fang; Lee, Eng Sing; van Dam, Rob M.; Subramaniam, Mythily

doi:10.1186/s12889-023-15309-3

Table 3 Sociodemographic determinants of the modified Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS).

From: Measuring social desirability bias in a multi-ethnic cohort sample: its relationship with self-reported physical activity, dietary habits, and factor structure

			Factor 1: Civil and Lawful Impression				Factor 2: Integrous Image Boosting				21-item MCSDS (Total)
				95% CI				95% CI				95% CI
Variables	n	%	b	lower	upper	p-value	b	lower	upper	p-value	b	lower	upper	p-value
Age (in years)
35 to 49	719	28.2	0.75	0.24	1.28	0.004	0.4	0.14	0.66	0.003	1.16	0.49	1.82	0.001
50 to 64	774	26.8	1.7	1.16	2.24	< 0.001	0.91	0.62	1.2	< 0.001	2.61	1.92	3.29	< 0.001
65 and above	579	15.1	1.82	1.17	2.47	< 0.001	1.08	0.76	1.4	< 0.001	2.9	2.1	3.7	< 0.001
18 to 34 (ref)	823	29.9	0
Gender
Male	1421	47.5	-0.12	-0.42	0.18	0.44	0.103	-0.06	0.27	0.211	-0.02	-0.41	0.37	0.93
Female (ref)	1474	51.6	0
Ethnicity
Malay	974	12.7	-0.03	-0.33	0.27	0.85	0.37	0.23	0.52	< 0.001	0.35	-0.03	0.72	0.072
Indian	918	8.6	0.06	-0.22	0.34	0.66	0.36	0.22	0.51	< 0.001	0.43	0.07	0.78	0.02
Other	207	2.9	0.13	-0.41	0.67	0.63	0.3	0.02	0.57	0.033	0.43	-0.28	1.14	0.233
Chinese (ref)	796	75.8	0
Highest Education
Primary or lower	637	20.4	0.02	-0.54	0.58	0.94	0.16	-0.14	0.45	0.293	0.18	-0.52	0.88	0.62
Secondary	684	20.3	-0.45	-0.97	0.07	0.09	0.15	-0.12	0.41	0.281	-0.31	-0.95	0.34	0.35
Pre-U/Junior College	126	4.8	-0.1	-0.77	0.58	0.78	0.1	-0.27	0.47	0.58	0.01	-0.9	0.92	0.986
Vocational Institute/ITE	267	6.6	0.18	-0.5	0.86	0.6	0.44	0.09	0.78	0.013	0.62	-0.28	1.51	0.176
Diploma	479	18.5	-0.11	-0.6	0.38	0.66	0.33	0.08	0.58	0.011	0.22	-0.42	0.86	0.506
Tertiary and above (ref)	702	29.5	0
Marital Status
Currently married/cohabiting	1860	61.7	0.55	0.07	1.03	0.025	0.53	0.27	0.78	< 0.001	1.08	0.46	1.69	0.001
Previously married	303	9.1	0.94	0.28	1.59	0.005	0.69	0.36	1.02	< 0.001	1.63	0.82	2.43	< 0.001
Never married (ref)	731	29.2	0
Personal Monthly Income
Below 2k	1236	40.1	-0.19	-0.73	0.36	0.5	-0.49	-0.75	-0.23	< 0.001	-0.68	-1.34	-0.012	0.046
2k to 3999	698	25.1	0.11	-0.47	0.68	0.71	-0.49	-0.79	-0.19	0.001	-0.38	-1.1	0.34	0.298
4k to 5999	318	13.4	0.08	-0.62	0.78	0.82	-0.45	-0.8	-0.1	0.011	-0.37	-1.24	0.51	0.41
6k to 9999	183	8.2	-0.32	-1.07	0.44	0.41	-0.49	-0.88	-0.09	0.016	-0.8	-1.77	0.16	0.104
10k and above	117	5.9	-0.49	-1.39	0.4	0.28	-0.7	-1.21	-0.19	0.007	-1.19	-2.35	-0.03	0.044
No income (ref)	219	7.3	0

Note: the modified MCSDS retains 21 of the original 33 items; Civil and Lawful Impression (13 items) and Integrous Image Boosting (8 items) are factors of the modified MCSDS; b represents the standardized coefficient; n and % are the sub-group sample size and weighted percentages; 95% CI indicates the upper and lower bounds of the 95% Confidence Interval; p-values stated in bold are significant at p < .05; Pre-University/Junior College/Vocational Institute/ITE/Diploma are local derivatives of pre-tertiary education

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