The development and validation of the scale of interpersonal cynicism

In a recent study (Moore, 1997) evidence suggested that interpersonal cynical attitudes grow out of real experiences and accumulate over time. Existing scales do not attempt to measure cynicism in the broader interpersonal domain. Thepresent study describes the development and validation of the Scale of Interpersonal Cynicism (SIC), an instrument being developed to measure cynicism in that context. Thus,in addition to measuring cynical attitudes toward human nature as most measures have done in the past, the SIC also assesses cynicism toward relationships, and as a justification for negative behavior. The study also investigates the behavioral correlates of cynicism with a series of hypothesis tests.