Loading...
A novel, network-based approach to assessing romantic-relationship quality
CORE Lab
CORE Lab
Abstract
How should romantic-relationship quality be approached psychometrically? This is a complicated theoretical and methodological challenge that we begin to address through three studies. In Study 1a, we identified 25 distinct romantic-relationship categories among 754 items from 26 romantic-relationship-quality instruments with a weak Jaccard index (0.38), indicating that the scales' item content was extremely heterogeneous. Study 1b then demonstrated limited structure validity evidence in 43 scale-development-validation articles of 23 of these 26 instruments. Finally, Study 2 surveyed 587 French-speaking participants in a romantic relationship on romantic-relationship quality. Applying a network-based model, we identified four dimensions, three of which are central to relationship quality. The inferences were mostly limited to French-speaking, monogamous, heterosexual women. To resolve challenges detected in the literature, we recommend a multicountry qualitative approach, more diverse sampling, better definitions of romantic-relationship quality, and a dynamic-systems approach to measuring romantic-relationship quality.
Description
Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Content overlap, Measurement, Network analysis, Romantic relationships
Citation
CORE Lab 2024, 'A novel, network-based approach to assessing romantic-relationship quality', Perspectives on Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231215248