Individual Innovativeness (II)

An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption (like an organization). People and organizations vary a great deal in their "innovativeness." Innovativeness has to do with how early in the process of adoption of new ideas, practices, etc. that the individual or organization is likely to accept a change.

The individual innovativeness scale was designed to measure individuals' orientations toward change. Research has indicated that this orientation is associated with several communication variables. The II instrument has been found to be highly reliable and the predictive validity is good.

Directions: People respond to their environment in different ways. The statements below refer to some of the ways people can respond. Please indicate the degree to which each statement applies to you by marking whether you: Strongly Disagree = 1; Disagree = 2; are Neutral = 3; Agree = 4; Strongly Disagree = 5 Please work quickly, there are no right or wrong answers, just record your first impression.

_______ 1. My peers often ask me for advice or information.

_______ 2. I enjoy trying new ideas.

_______ 3. I seek out new ways to do things.

_______ 4. I am generally cautious about accepting new ideas.

_______ 5. I frequently improvise methods for solving a problem when an answer is not apparent.

_______ 6. I am suspicious of new inventions and new ways of thinking.

_______ 7. I rarely trust new ideas until I can see whether the vast majority of people around me accept them.

_______ 8. I feel that I am an influential member of my peer group.

_______ 9. I consider myself to be creative and original in my thinking and behavior.

_______10. I am aware that I am usually one of the last people in my group to accept something new.

_______11. I am an inventive kind of person.

_______12. I enjoy taking part in the leadership responsibilities of the group I belong to.

_______13. I am reluctant about adopting new ways of doing things until I see them working for people around me.

_______14. I find it stimulating to be original in my thinking and behavior.

_______15. I tend to feel that the old way of living and doing things is the best way.

_______16. I am challenged by ambiguities and unsolved problems.

_______17. I must see other people using new innovations before I will consider them.

_______18. I am receptive to new ideas.

_______19. I am challenged by unanswered questions.

_______20. I often find myself skeptical of new ideas.

Scoring:

Step 1: Add the scores for items 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17, and 20.

Step 2: Add the scores for items 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 19.

Step 3: Complete the following formula: II = 42 + total score for Step 2 - total score for Step 1.

Scores above 80 are classified as Innovators.

Scores between 69 and 80 are classified as Early Adopters.

Scores between 57 and 68 are classified as Early Majority.

Scores between 46 and 56 are classified as Late Majority.

Scores below 46 are classified as Laggards/Traditionalists.

In general people who score above 68 and considered highly innovative, and people who score below 64 are considered low in innovativeness.

Source:

Hurt, H. T., Joseph, K., & Cook, C. D. (1977). Scales for the measurement of innovativeness. Human Communication Research, 4, 58-65.