Measuring Participation: Development and Validation the Participatory Behaviors Scale

Studies of political and civic engagement have revealed that different types of participatory behaviors exist. Relying on Ekman and AmnAyen's (Human Aff 22(3):283-300, 2012) participation typology, we developed a new measure, the Participatory Behaviors Scale (PBS), to analyze four dimensions of participation: formal political participation, activism, civil participation and disengagement. As proposed by Ekman and AmnAyen, disengagement is a genuine and active style of participation. A study was conducted on a sample of community residents (N = 566) to examine the statistical validity and psychometric properties of the PBS. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the second-order factor structure of PBS (composed of four first-order factors, i.e., disengagement, civil participation, formal political participation and activism) produced the most satisfactory fit indexes. The reliability and validity of the scale were verified. The scale was then tested on a second sample of voters. The methodological and theoretical implications are discussed, and further developments are outlined.