Hi

I have a question about social desirable responses in self report surveys.

Suppose in the questioner students are asked whether they feel guilty if they cheat or they think that a good student will not cheat. I consider this question as self-report about the attitude toward cheating. Moreover they are asked whether they have cheated in a specific exam or not and I we have validated data about whether they have cheated in that exam or not.

Imagine a respondents that:

1-      Strongly agree to both that  a student will not cheat and she feels guilty if she cheats. As far as I know, this answer might be either the honest answer who possess this attitude or a social desirable answer.

2-  She reported that she has not cheated in that specific exam.

3  - However , validated data prove that she has cheated.

Now, can I assume that behaviour is associated with social desirable response? In other words, can I conclude that her response to attitude toward cheating and self-reported cheating responses were both  misleading social desirable responses because in reality she cheated?

Thanks