Food and Faith: Development and Psychometric Validation of the Spiritual Food Contagion Scale (SFCS)

Despite extensive research on magical thinking and contagion beliefs, no validated measure exists for assessing spiritual food contagion---the belief that non-material properties transfer to food through contact. We developed and validated the Spiritual Food Contagion Scale (SFCS) across a series of studies with a total sample of over 1,600 participants. Studies 1A-B (N = 100) generated an initial item pool through literature review and target audience evaluation. Study 2 (N = 398) employed exploratory factor analysis, revealing a robust two-factor structure: \textit{essence transmission} (8 items) and \textit{moral contamination} (7 items). Study 3 ($N$ = 504) confirmed this structure through confirmatory factor analysis and established convergent validity with related constructs. Study 4A (N = 351) demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability and predictive validity through experimental scenarios. Participants completed treatment preference ratings for flu illness and health optimization contexts across evidence-based, wellness, alternative, and pseudoscientific approaches. Higher SFCS scores were positively associated with a stronger preference for treatments in general, with particularly pronounced effects for pseudoscientific interventions. Study 4B ($N$ = 280) examined actual past usage of alternative medicine practices. Here, the SFCS significantly predicted alternative medicine usage, demonstrating that spiritual food contagion beliefs extend to real-world behaviors. The SFCS provides researchers with a psychometrically sound instrument for investigating spiritual food contagion beliefs and their implications for health-related decision-making and other domains of consumer behavior.