“I know how to fit in”: Social clear-sightedness and its impact on self-presentation in social situations

This thesis introduces the psychological construct of social clear-sightedness as a dispositional

knowledge of social desirability, operationalized as a supra-ordinate latent factor. It suggests that individuals high

in social clear-sightedness would use this knowledge to identify the social desirability attached to various

constructs (in this thesis, personality dimensions), and fake their self-reports accordingly to achieve self-

presentational purposes. Additionally, the context (i.e., the type of situations and the level of evaluative pressure)

was expected to influence which traits are identified and faked by those with high level of social clear-sightedness,

thus highlighting the situational component of the construct. Through three research lines, the thesis examines the

existence and influence of this construct on personality self-reports.

In the first research line, two studies explored this new theoretical and methodological construct as an

innovative approach to Socially Desirable Responding (SDR) through structural equation modelling. Results

indicate that SDR was indeed situation-dependent, more prevalent in high-stakes situations, and contingent on

individuals’ dispositional level of social clear-sightedness. In the second research line, three studies examined this

situational component of SDR using budgeting tasks. Results showed that participants were able to distinguish

between personality dimensions highly important to possess from optional ones in order to be appreciated in

different social situations (duty vs. sociality situations). The third research line builds upon the previous two,

examining whether clear-sighted individuals elaborate self-presentations strategically adapted to the situation and

stakes at play. Four studies were conducted and analyzed using meta-analytic structural equation modelling

(MASEM). Results first confirmed that social clear-sightedness was a cross-situationally stable knowledge of

social desirability. Second, they revealed that clear-sighted individuals adapted their self-descriptions based on the

type of social situation and evaluative pressure, using their knowledge of social desirability to fake their answers

only on highly important dimensions and in contexts with high evaluative pressure.

In conclusion, this thesis underscores the pivotal role of social clear-sightedness in shaping strategic self-

representations, particularly in high-stakes situations.