Suggestibility

Suggestibility is the quality of being inclined to accept and act on the suggestions of others. One may fill in gaps in certain memories with false information given by another when recalling a scenario or moment. Suggestibility uses cues to distort recollection: when the subject has been persistently told something about a past event, his or her memory of the event conforms to the repeated message.[1]

A person experiencing intense emotions tends to be more receptive to ideas and therefore more suggestible. Generally, suggestibility decreases as age increases. However, psychologists have found that individual levels of self-esteem and assertiveness can make some people more suggestible than others; this finding led to the concept of a spectrum of suggestibility.[2]

  1. ^ "Psychlopedia – Suggestibility". psychlopedia.wikispaces.com. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  2. ^ Hooper, Victoria-Rose; Chou, Shihning; Browne, Kevin D. (November 2016). "A systematic review on the relationship between self-esteem and interrogative suggestibility" (PDF). The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology. 27 (6): 761–785. doi:10.1080/14789949.2016.1201844. ISSN 1478-9949. S2CID 148344372.