Social desirability bias

The tendency for people to answer questions in a way that will be viewed favorably by others

Why it matters

It is why "would you pay for this?" is a nearly worthless question: people answer as the person they would like to be, especially face to face. Research that ignores it collects politeness and ships it as evidence.

Related terms

Friendliness Bias
Design Sprint
Foundational Research
Implicit Bias
Pain Points

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