Abstract
This article presents a new diagnostic tool: the Wilderness Survival Self-Efficacy Scale (WSSES). The WSSES was developed to allow researchers and instructors to assess individuals’ perceived abilities to build their survival skills and apply them in their daily life. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted with 348 participants and resulted in one factor. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed using another sample of 199 participants, and the results verified the one-factor structure. The results suggest that the WSSES demonstrates a strong internal consistency (α = .88). A test-retest reliability analysis on a sample of 102 respondents indicated that WSSES scores were stable over a 4-week period. WSSES scores were highly related to general self-efficacy, moderately related to problematic coping and wilderness seeking, and unrelated to personality traits (openness to experience and agreeableness). The implications for outdoor education and mental health practices as well as research applications of this new measure are discussed. Key Words: Self-efficacy—Survival—Outdoor skills—Wilderness.
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