Sexual Socialization Instrument – SSI
Measures the permissive sexual influences of parents and peers on adolescents and young adults.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Sexual Socialization Instrument – SSI was developed by Ilsa L. Lottes, Peter J. Kuriloff (1994). It is designed to measure Permissive sexual socialization from parents and peers. The scale is intended for use with Adolescents and young adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 20 items organized into 2 factors/subscales: Parental Sexual Socialization Scale, Peer Sexual Socialization Scale.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Parental Sexual Socialization Scale | 1,3,6,9,12,16,19,20 | 8 |
| Peer Sexual Socialization Scale | 2,4,5,7,8,10,11,13,14,15,17,18 | 12 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly Agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Undecided, 4 = Disagree, 5 = Strongly Disagree.
The scale includes 11 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 20 to 100. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Permissiveness / Nonpermissive Influence: 20 – 46
- Moderate Permissiveness: 47 – 73
- High Permissiveness / Permissive Influence: 74 – 100
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach alphas for the long forms: Parental scale = .78, Peer scale = .85.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.