If a student lies on a questionnaire regarding the number of sexual partners he has had during the course of his lifetime, then can best describe the student's behavior.

The answer in the blank provided is social desirability bias, it is a way of a person responding to a question that could show over reporting or under reporting base on the given answer in which these answers are fitting to those of respondents. It is being described above where the student lies to the question because of the question that has been given to him. He likely lied because he find it to be a favorable answer.

The correct answer is "grounded".