Defensiveness (the tendency not to report unfavorable information about
oneself), as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, has
been shown to be inversely correlated with self-reported symptoms. In this
family study of depression, direct interviews with 380 subjects combined
with relatives' reports revealed a similar inverse relationship between
defensiveness and lifetime prevalence of any psychiatric disorder,
especially when diagnostic status was most certain and among those at
greater risk for psychopathology. The authors conclude that the
Marlowe-Crowne scale measures a factor or trait associated with the
relative absence of psychiatric disorder, not the underreporting or denial
of disorder.Abstract Teaser