Gudjonsson

Gudjonsson is an Icelandic surname, formed in the traditional patronymic style meaning “son of Guðjón.” In Icelandic, the name is written Guðjónsson, with the corresponding female form Guðjónsdóttir. The anglicized spelling Gudjonsson is commonly used outside Iceland and among Icelandic communities abroad.

The most notable bearer of the name is Gisli H. Gudjonsson (Gisli Guðjónsson; born 1947), an Icelandic-British psychologist known for his work in forensic psychology. He is recognized for research on interrogative suggestibility, false confessions, and memory, and for developing the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS), a standardized instrument used to assess how susceptible individuals are to confirming misleading information during questioning.

Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale: The GSS is designed to measure an individual’s response to information introduced after an event. It assesses initial recall and two key vulnerability dimensions—yield (tendency to comply with leading or misleading questions) and shift (tendency to change answers after feedback). The GSS has been widely applied in forensic and clinical research to understand factors that influence confession reliability and memory accuracy. Its use, however, requires careful consideration of context, culture, and the specific circumstances of each case.

Beyond Gisli Gudjonsson, the surname Gudjonsson appears among Icelandic families and in diaspora communities, reflecting Iceland’s naming traditions. The name is primarily associated with Icelandic heritage and is encountered in various professional fields.