Self-efficacy (Eating Healthy)

What it measures

The scale measures confidence in one's ability to eat healthily, adapted from an established behavioral self-efficacy measure.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I believe I have the ability to eat a healthy diet __________. definitely do not / definitely do
• To what extent do you see yourself as being capable of eating a healthy diet __________? very unlikely / very likely
• How confident are you that you will be able to eat a healthy diet __________? very unsure / very sure
• If it were entirely up to me, I am confident that I would be able to eat a healthy diet __________. strongly disagree / strongly agree

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Weihrauch and Huang (2021) adapted this scale from Armitage and Conner (1999), changing only the phrase “a low-fat diet” to “a healthy diet”; used across multiple studies. Reliability was consistently excellent (α = .91–.95). It was used as a manipulation check, offering indirect support for validity.

Citation

Weihrauch, A., & Huang, S. (2021). Portraying Humans as Machines to Promote Health: Unintended Risks, Mechanisms, and Solutions. Journal of Marketing, 85(3), 184–203.

Keywords