Abstract
The usual positive relationship between the social desirability of traits and the proportion of the group endorsing the traits was found on items from 3 of 4 social desirability scales. However, judged frequency of occurrence of the traits was positively related to endorsement on the items from all 4 scales. Partialling out judged frequency of occurrence resulted in a reduced relationship between social desirability and endorsement when the group of items had a positive relationship between social desirability and judged frequency of occurrence. Computer simulation estimated that a considerable component of an individual's social desirability score could be due to how many of the traits which characterized the individual were included in each scale.