Recent Scale Development and Validation in the Field of Psychology: Study 1: (Burton and Hager) The Persuasion Susceptibility Inventory

Past research has investigated the concept persuasibility, or the susceptibility to social influence regardless of their knowledge or what the source advocates. The only measure to quantify this construct was published more than 50 years ago. Thus, there is considerable need for a more contemporary scale. The purpose of this study was to assess construct validity and test-retest reliability of the Persuasion Susceptibility Inventory, which measures a person’s underlying susceptibility to being persuaded as a personality trait. A pretest was given to all participants containing the PSI and a measure of initial opinions regarding ten relevant issues (e.g., student parking, printing, health care). This study then utilized a within-subjects design where participants attended two separate laboratory sessions. Within the first session, participants were given a questionnaire containing a pro or con argument for the ten issues in the pretest. Following the arguments, they were instructed to note their opinions and then complete the PSI. During the second session, participants were given a questionnaire similar to the first session, except each argument took a diametrically opposite stance from the argument in the first session. Additionally, they were given the PSI to complete before leaving the session. The results will be discussed. This measure has potential in the persuasion and personality literature, marketing research, and consumer behavior applications