What is a key limitation of self-report personality assessments?

A key limitation of self-report personality assessments is that they may be influenced by social desirability bias. This bias occurs when individuals tailor their responses to align with perceived social norms or expectations, rather than providing accurate reflections of their true thoughts and feelings. When respondents want to present themselves in a more favorable light, they may underreport negative traits or behaviors and overreport positive ones. This can compromise the validity of the assessment, as the results may not accurately represent the person's genuine personality traits.

While the other options might present challenges in different contexts—such as the need for training to administer certain assessments or cost concerns—social desirability bias particularly undermines the reliability of the data collected through self-report measures. This is crucial to recognize in psychological assessment and research, as it can lead to misleading conclusions about an individual’s personality.