Coping Habits as Measured Using Self-report Are Sensitive to Supernormality Response Bias

Abstract

Coping is crucial for managing stress and mental health outcomes; however, self-report assessments may be vulnerable to response biases. Although biases such as social desirability have been examined, little is known about the impact of supernormality, an extreme form of positive response bias, on coping assessments. In the present study, 862 participants (aged 18–71 years) completed an online survey including the Brief-COPE and measures of both positive and negative response bias. Based on their scores on the Supernormality Scale-Revised (SS-R), participants were categorized into a “supernormal group” ( n  = 222; 25.8 %) or a “credible group” ( n  = 640; 74.2 %). Group differences across coping-related outcomes were examined. Approximately 25.8 % of respondents exhibited supernormality. Compared to credible respondents, supernormal respondents reported significantly higher use of problem-focused coping and significantly lower use of emotion-focused and avoidant coping. Differences were particularly evident for specific coping strategies such as humor, venting, behavioral disengagement, denial, substance use, self-blame, and self-distraction. Taken together, these findings highlight that supernormality is prevalent in coping self-reports and systematically influences the pattern of self-reported coping strategies. These results underscore the need for alternative methodologies to enhance the validity of coping assessments in both research and clinical practice.