Measuring rebelliousness and predicting health behaviour and outcomes: an investigation of the construct validity of the Social Reactivity Scale.

The Social Reactivity Scale is a questionnaire measure of individual differences in rebelliousness. The associations between rebelliousness, health behaviours and health outcomes were examined in two Dutch samples by means of cross-sectional survey data. We found moderate support for the reliability and construct validity of the scale. Findings were suggestive of rebelliousness, first, being associated with low control beliefs, second, being related to hostility and, third, also heightening the risk of engaging in unhealthy behaviours and that of poor health (perhaps through deliberately rejecting health education messages). Findings thus contribute to the ongoing emergence of an empirically viable theoretical construct.