This scale measures how much a person believes that practicing social distancing will lower their and others' chances of contracting a contagious illness. Hita et al. (2023) tracked it across a six-month, six-wave longitudinal study of COVID-19 attitudes and behaviors in Canada.
7-point scale (strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7))
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
Reliability was strong across all six measurement waves (α = .88-.95; Hita et al. 2023, p. 142). Convergent and discriminant validity were supported, with AVEs ranging from .63 to .86 across waves (Web Appendix A). Item phrasing adapted three of six items from a flu-vaccination benefits scale (Fall et al. 2018). The blank should be filled with the name of the focal illness (e.g., COVID-19).
Hita, Marie Louise Radanielina, Yany Grégoire, Bruno Lussier, Simon Boissonneault, Christian Vandenberghe, and Sylvain Sénécal (2023), "An Extended Health Belief Model for COVID-19: Understanding the Media-based Processes Leading to Social Distancing and Panic Buying," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 51 (1), 132-152.
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