Rushing to Appear Virtuous: Time Pressure Increases Socially Desirable Responding

Prosociality increases when decisions are made under time pressure. Here, we investigated whether time pressure increases socially desirable responding outside social interactions (Study 1). Finding that it did, we then examined whether this is because people align their responses with the concept of their “true” self or because of an intuitive tendency to comply with norms (Study 2). In Study 1, we randomly assigned each of 1,500 Americans to answer a measure of social-desirability bias either quickly or slowly and found that quick responding increased social desirability. In Study 2, we recruited a similar sample and tested whether fast-responding effects were moderated by the extent to which people display a good-true-self bias. A greater tendency to ascribe good behaviors to the true self predicted social desirability, but this relationship disappeared under time pressure. These results of socially desirable behavior under time pressure do not reflect people’s deep-down good selves but, rather, their desire to present themselves favorably to other people.