Abstract
The present study describes the development and initial psychometric evaluation of the scale of Resilience
Against Terrorism (RAT). An extensive exercise was undertaken to identify specific constructs covering
resilience in Pakistani cultural context while using both theoretical and empirical approaches. Initially a fairly
large pool of items was generated with the help of the focus groups, interviews with experts, students and
literature out of which 74 items were retained. To evaluate it empirically, 276 males and 218 females were
contacted from all walks of life and all over the country including people who have witnessed a terrorist attack
and those who have heard it but haven’t seen it. Principle component factor analysis was conducted to select
items for RAT and determine its construct validity which provided four factors solution (Pessimism, Selfefficacy, Optimism & Sanctity and Education). The scale comprised 52 items selected on the basis of factor
loading no less than.35. Internal consistency of the scale with 52 items was highly significant (α = .82).
