Development and psychometric validation of the pre-earthquake illusion of control perception scale

BACKGROUND: Earthquakes are highly destructive, and their impact depends largely on prior preparedness. Beyond knowledge and experience, psychological perceptions—especially the illusion of control, the unrealistic belief that one can influence uncontrollable events—can reduce motivation to prepare and weaken disaster readiness. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure adults’ pre-earthquake illusion of control. METHODS: The scale development process followed established psychometric procedures, including content validation, item analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Data were collected from 406 participants aged 18 and older. RESULT: EFA revealed a two-factor structure explaining 59.56% of the total variance, consisting of “Perceived Control and Preparedness” and “Avoidance of Earthquake-Related Anxiety.” CFA supported this structure with acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.944, RMSEA = 0.072). Reliability analyses demonstrated high internal consistency for the total scale (α = 0.886) and both subdimensions. CONCLUSION: The resulting 12-item scale demonstrates promising psychometric properties within the present sample and provides an initial instrument for assessing pre-disaster control illusion perceptions in the context of earthquakes. The scale may provide a useful tool for future research examining cognitive factors influencing disaster preparedness and risk communication.