Variable Details
Available Studies
MAP, MARS, Clinical Core
Categories
Decision Making and Behavioral Economics
Scam susceptibility
Measure of susceptibility to scams - Average of 5 items
Scam susceptibility is measured using a 5-item self-report scale derived from findings and official statements from AARP and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Risk Meter.
Participants are asked to rate their agreement with each of the items using a 7-point Likert scale (see table below). Items 1, 2, and 5 are reverse coded so higher values indicate more susceptibility to scams for all items. The total score ranges form 1 to 7 and is the mean of the individual ratings, with higher scores indicating greater susceptibility to scams.
Participants are presented the following items:
| Item no. | Item | Flipped (f) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I feel I have to answer the phone whenever it rings, even if I do not know who is calling. | (f) |
| 2 | I have difficulty ending a phone call, even if the caller is a telemarketer, someone I do not know, or someone I did not wish to call me. | (f) |
| 3 | If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. | |
| 4 | Persons over the age of 65 are often targeted by con-artists. | |
| 5 | If a telemarketer calls me, I usually listen to what they have to say. | (f) |
Response choices for each item:
| Response | Value | Flipped value |
|---|---|---|
| Strongly agree | 1 | 7 |
| Agree | 2 | 6 |
| Slightly agree | 3 | 5 |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 4 | 4 |
| Slightly disagree | 5 | 3 |
| Disagree | 6 | 2 |
| Strongly disagree | 7 | 1 |