Evaluating suggestibility: Impact of subjective physiological arousal and recall on immediate acceptance of misinformation

• Main Author: Magpantay, Janne Andre G.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Arousal (Physiology); Cognitive psychology; Clinical Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/7072
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study examines suggestibility based on recall by controlling subjective physiological arousal as induced by physical exercises. A sample of 100 undergraduate students from three schools participated in the experiment. The present study employed a between- groups experimental design. It also used Self-Assessment Manikin and Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2 to measure subjective physiological arousal and recall and suggestibility, respectively. Participants were randomly grouped into no arousal, low arousal, and high arousal conditions. Subjective arousal level of participants in the high arousal condition was successfully manipulated via physical exercises but not of those who were in the no and low arousal conditions. The study found no significant relationship between subjective physiological arousal and suggestibility. Meanwhile, the present study revealed a significant relationship between the subjective physiological arousal and recall of participants in the no and low arousal conditions when analyzed separately. However, no significant relationship was found between the subjective physiological arousal and recall of the participants in the high arousal condition, as well as when all conditions were analyzed as a whole. Nonetheless, a significant relationship between memory recall and suggestibility was supported across all conditions. Hierarchical linear regression analyses and the Sobel test revealed that the hypothesized model did not produce a mediation effect. Findings suggest that response to misinformation is not based on subjective physiological arousal, but is influenced by how much an individual accurately recalls information.