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Chasing Happily Ever After: Psychometric Development and Nomological Validation of the Rescue Fantasy Beliefs Scale
Stephen Bok1, James Shum2, Maria Lee3
1College of Business and Economics, California State University, East Bay, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd, Hayward, CA 94542, USA.
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 28, 2026
Summary
High rescue fantasy beliefs (RFB) are linked to addictive shopping, mediated by disappointment in relationships. Addressing unmet social needs is key for those with high RFB.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Attachment Theory
- Consumer Behavior
Background:
- Attachment theory posits relational schemas shape social expectations.
- Social relationships are vital for happiness, but unrealistic expectations can lead to disappointment.
- Illusionary expectations on others conflict with behavioral realities, causing distress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To psychometrically develop and validate scales for rescue fantasy beliefs (RFB) and expected relational disappointment (ERD).
- To investigate the relationship between RFB, ERD, relational satisfaction, and shopping addiction.
- To explore the mediating roles of ERD and relational satisfaction in the RFB-shopping addiction link.
Main Methods:
- Psychometric development of RFB and ERD scales.
- Reliability and validity analyses (discriminant, convergent).
- Serial mediation analysis to examine indirect effects.
Main Results:
- The RFB and ERD scales demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties.
- Higher RFB was associated with increased shopping addiction.
- ERD and current relational satisfaction sequentially mediated the relationship between RFB and shopping addiction, indicating a serial effect.
Conclusions:
- A serial pathway exists from rescue fantasy beliefs to lower expected relational disappointment, lower relational satisfaction, and higher shopping addiction.
- Addictive shopping may serve as a coping mechanism for unmet social needs.
- Marketing strategies should foster meaningful social connections to address underlying needs, especially for individuals with high RFB.
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