The food neophobia scale: Factorial and construct validity in the Australian population

The food neophobia scale has been reported to be a valid and reliable instrument over the nearly thirty years since its development, becoming the most highly used measure of food neophobia. However, concerns raised over the wording of items and the unidimensional nature of the scale has resulted in the evolution of several versions with varying items, item numbers and response sets. The current study attempted to validate the ten-item scale using factorial validation in a large Australian sample (n = 2242) but found the instrument a reliable and valid measure of food neophobia in a six-item unidimensional version previously identified in the literature. Theoretically supported correlations of the approach and avoidance facets of food neophobia with extraversion and neuroticism establish construct validity and a post hoc evaluation of a new measure of the motivation to eat new foods is included in the evaluation.