Measuring the Potential for Hateful Behaviours: Development and Validation of the Hate Behaviours Scale (HBS)

Abstract

This article introduces and reports the psychometric properties of the Hate Behaviours Scale (HBS), which assesses individual intentions to engage in a range of violent and non-violent hateful behaviours against various target groups. Three independent U.S. adult samples (total n = 3524) were used to gather data on the scale and associated covariates and constructs. The twelve-item HBS is comprised of three subscales; Discrimination, Defensive Violence and Belligerent Violence. The higher scores on the HBS were significantly associated with past behaviours such as attending a protest against the target group (β = 0.57, p < .001), having physically hit a member of the target group (β = 0.57, p < .001), and sharing an offensive joke online about the target group (β = 0.51, p < .001). This new measure provides a modifiable, easy to use, reliable and valid multi-component scale for assessing hate against different target groups. It should allow researchers to reliably assess individual levels of hate, and establish relationships with other demographic, social, situational, and psychological characteristics. The HBS provides a short and cost-effective tool to inform and evaluate counter violent extremism interventions aimed at reducing the potential for hateful behaviours.