Development and Validation of a Measurement Scale for Political Activism Among Young Adults Between 18 and 25 Years Old

Young people show a declining interest in participating in traditional political participation and voter turnout. At the same time, alternative forms of political participation among the younger generations have emerged, such as Snapchat, Whatsapp, YouTube and TikTok. To gain a robust understanding of youth activism, this study set out to develop and validate a new political activism measurement scale. The mixed-methods study was based on the scale development process by Boateng et al. (2018). Two scales were developed: the Intentional Activism Scale, which measures the intent to engage in political activism, and the Actual Activism Scale, which measures actual participation. Each scale consists of five constructs (dimensions), which represent specific forms of activism, measured through carefully developed items. The Intentional Activism Scale (⍺ =.94) and Actual Activism Scale (⍺ =.93) were tested by 159 young adults and both showed excellent reliability.