NWO funding for PhD project Emma Zaal

Emma Zaal of the Discourse and Communication group received NWO funding for her PhD project ‘Nothing but the truth: Unraveling socially desirable responding in self-reports’ (supervisors John Hoeks en Yfke Ongena)

The project is about socially desirable responding - a common phenomenon where, in order to appear more desirable, people do not report completely honestly about themselves in interviews or questionnaires. The project is being carried out by PhD candidate Emma Zaal, led by Prof. John Hoeks and Dr. Yfke Ongena of the Discourse and Communication research group. In the project, the brand new PhD candidate will investigate how socially desirable responding can best be predicted, measured and reduced. The outcome of the project is a model of question answering that includes socially desirable responding. The results of this project can be used for theory development, question formulation and questionnaire design, but also for policymaking and the development of public campaigns aimed at behavioral change.