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Perceived Corporate and Peer Surveillance on the Internet: Scale Development and Validation
Jošt Bartol1, Laura Fatur1,2, Andraž Petrovčič1
1Centre for Social Informatics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking
|April 7, 2026
Summary
The Perceived Surveillance Scale (PSS) was adapted to measure peer surveillance, distinguishing it from corporate surveillance. This new scale offers a reliable tool for understanding online privacy perceptions among peers.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Information Science
Background:
- Individuals' online behavior is influenced by perceived surveillance.
- Existing Perceived Surveillance Scale (PSS) primarily addresses corporate actors, neglecting peer surveillance.
- Distinguishing between corporate and peer surveillance is crucial for analyzing online behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a version of the PSS for measuring perceived peer surveillance.
- To assess the psychometric properties of both corporate and peer PSSs.
- To highlight the importance of differentiating between corporate and peer surveillance.
Main Methods:
- Adaptation of the original PSS to create a peer surveillance scale.
- Testing both scales on a sample of 1,666 Slovenian internet users.
- Assessment of five psychometric properties: structural validity, internal consistency, convergent/discriminant validity, measurement invariance, and construct validity.
Main Results:
- The adapted PSS effectively measures perceived peer surveillance as distinct from corporate surveillance.
- Both corporate and peer PSSs demonstrated excellent psychometric properties.
- Minor deviations in psychometric properties were observed for both scales.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully developed a valid and reliable PSS for peer contexts.
- Differentiating between perceived corporate and peer surveillance offers valuable insights into digital environments.
- The findings support the use of distinct scales for measuring different types of online surveillance perceptions.
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