Ronald M. Sabatelli

Measurement Issues in Marital Research: A Review and Critique of Contemporary Survey Instruments.

Sabin examines the self-report measures used to assess various constructs of concern to marital research with specific attention to selected indicators of marital satisfaction marital adjustment and marital quality. Indicators of marital intimacy and marital complaints are also reviewed. Attention is also directed to the measures of concepts linked more directly to marital stability including measures of commitment relationship alternatives and potential for marital dissolution. The author emphasizes several points upon concluding his review. First while the adjustment quality measures are intended to provide a broad profile of marital relationships they are psychometrically flawed in several ways. Their most fundamental problem has to do with the threats to validity that result from the blending of units and objects of analyses within a single measure. It is not reasonable to scale different units and objects of analyses as if they are comparable phenomena because there is no way of knowing what the resulting score actually represents. More than likely what accounts for the more objective characteristics of a relationship are confounded by the more subjective impressions of the relationship particularly when these items of information are simultaneously solicited. Finally when a marital adjustment scale is used it becomes virtually impossible to assess related concepts independently. These problems lead to the conclusion that the use of measures of adjustment should be curtailed and that satisfaction quality be used to refer only to the subjective evaluations that a person makes of his or her marital relationship. There is also an obvious need to further develop measures of important and diverse marital concepts; developers of future measures must attend to their conceptual operational and psychometric properties. It is imperative as well that measures be subjected to critical and multiple tests of their validity before their widespread adoption and use be advocated. It is also essential that all researchers develop an appreciation for the central role of measurement in the research process. The understanding of social phenomena when that understanding is derived from survey research is predicated on the quality of the measures employed by researchers.

Exchange and Resource Theories

Conceptual frameworks are often organized around a metaphor (Gergen et al., 1980). When the metaphor is powerful and embraced by the culture, the framework is easily understood and readily adapted to explain a wide range of phenomenon. During the 1960s, the social exchange framework was formally advanced in the work of sociologists George Homans (1961) and Peter Blau (1964a) and the work of social psychologists John Thibaut and Harold Kelley (1959). Each of these perspectives make use of an economic metaphor. They view social relationships as extended “markets” in which each individual acts out of self-interest with the goal of maximizing profits. Thibaut and Kelley assert, for example, that “… every individual voluntarily enters and stays in any relationship only as long as it is adequately satisfactory in terms of his rewards and costs” (1959, p. 37). Likewise, Homans asserts that “… the open secret of human exchange is to give the other man behavior that is more valuable to him than it is costly to you and to get from him behavior that is more valuable to you than it is costly to him” (1961, p. 62).

Differentiation and Individuation as Mediators of Identity and Intimacy in Adolescence

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the interdependence of individual and family development as these relate to the coemergence of a mature sense of identity and the capacity for intimacy during adolescence. In focusing on these issues, the paper expands on the concepts of individuation and system differentiation thus placing adolescent development in the context of a life-long dialectic involving issues of family and individual separateness and connectedness. It is contended that by conceptualizing adolescence as a significant developmental transition for the family as well as the child, the significance of system differentiation and intimate parent-child interactions emerge as important mediators of the individuation process. The individuation construct is thereby utilized to elaborate the complex relationships between identity formation, the capacity for intimacy, and the systems level of differentiation.

Relational Interdependence and Commitment in Marriage.

This research was designed to examine, from a social exchange perspective, the interaction between several indicators of relational interdependence and relational commitment in married individuals. It was hypothesized that a high level of interdependence-as indicated by high levels of outcomes (or satisfaction) derived from a relationship, equity experienced within a relationship, and the presence of strong barriers to the dissolution of the relationship-would be positively correlated with a high degree of relational commitment, as measured by low levels of monitoring of alternatives and high levels of cohesion and solidarity. In addition, the differential impact of the indicators of interdependence were examined for their relative contributions in predicting commitment. Results support the hypothesis in that a high level of interdependence-as measured by its indicators-positively covaried with commitment. In addition, perceived equity in the distribution of outcomes within a relationship was the variable found to account for the largest percentage of variance in levels of commitment reported for both husbands and wives.

The Marital Comparison Level Index: A Measure for Assessing Outcomes Relative to Expectations

This paper presents the rationalefor and initialfindings concerning the development of the Marital Comparison Level Index. The necessity for the development of a new method for assessing the perception of marital relationships is predicated on the multitude of criticisms aimed specifically at the dependent measures used in the marital adjustment-satisfaction research. The MCLI is based upon the interpersonal processes highlighted by social exchange perspectives on the evaluations of relationships, with particular focus on comparative processes. Consequently, the MCLI provides a measure of the degree to which respondents feel that the outcomes derived from their relationships compare with their expectations for relationships and, hence,, their complaints about the relationship. Data collected on 301 married individuals suggest that the relational dimensions incorporated into the MCLI are perceived as important by married individuals and that the scale is both unidimensional and highly reliable. Evidence for the validity of the scale is also presented, since respondents who more positively evaluated their relationships on the MCLI were more likely to express a strong commitment to their relationships and view them as more equitable.

Deconstructing Differentiation: Self Regulation, Interdependent Relating, and Well-Being in Adulthood

This study examined underlying similarities between the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFS; Bray, Williamson, & Malone, 1984a) and the Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI; Skowron & Friedlander, 1998). Generalized least-squares factor analysis yielded two related factors, Self Regulation and Interdependent Relating, accounting for 60% of the variance in the solution. Greater Self Regulation—comprised of DSI scales characterized by less emotional reactivity and the ability to take an I position in relationships—and Interdependent Relating—marked by greater personal authority, intergenerational intimacy and less intergenerational fusion on the PAFS and less emotional cutoff on the DSI—predicted well-being among both women and men. Implications for family therapy and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The differentiation in the family system scale (difs)

Abstract This report outlines efforts to develop a self-report measure that assesses family differentiation. Differentiation is conceptualized as a family-level variable involving interactions that enable individuals to maintain both a sense of ongoing emotional connectedness (support, involvement, personal relationship) and a sense of separateness (autonomy, uniqueness, freedom of personal expression) within the context of their family-of-origin. The scale consists of 11 items and employs a “circular questioning” format to assess an individuals perception of how the various members of the family interact with one another. Scale uses and information on the scales reliability and validity are presented.

Family System Dynamics, the Individuation Process, and Psychosocial Development

Measures of family system patterns of interaction and the individuation process were examined as mediators of psychosocial development in a sample of college students. Included is an initial exploration into the construction and development of self-report, paper-and-pencil instruments designed to measure the two exceedingly complex constructs of differentiation and individuation. Indicators of family conflict, parental intrusiveness, and psychological interconnectedness were found to be significant predictors of psychosocial maturity, supporting the theoretical expectation that distance regulation patterns indicative of well differentiated families and age-appropriate manifestations of the individuation process would be independently and interactively related to psychosocial adaptation. Also, the exploration of gender-related differences revealed that males were significantly more financially and psychologically independent from family members than were females but did not differ on any of the other family system and individual variables explored.

Differentiating differentiation and individuation: Conceptual and operation challenges

Abstract A conceptual framework is presented for disentangling the concepts of individuation and differentiation by defining the former as an individual developmental process and the later as a family level variable dealing with patterns of distance regulation. The framework is then used as a basis for identifying critical measurement issues. Finally, selected measures of individuation and differentiation are reviewed in order to illustrate the strengths and limitations of measurement efforts to date.

Nonverbal expressiveness and physical attractiveness as mediators of interpersonal perceptions

This research examines the impact of spontaneous nonverbal expressiveness and physical attractiveness on the formation of initial interpersonal impressions. It was hypothesized that in the absence of a relationship history with a person, those people who provide more spontaneous, uncensored, nonverbal information would be viewed as more interpersonally attractive. In addition, as a secondary focus of the study, data were analyzed to examine the relationship between physical attractiveness and nonverbal communication abilities. Results suggest that both physical attractiveness and nonverbal expressiveness independent of one another and in conjunction with one another positively impact on interpersonal perceptions. In addition, physical attractiveness was found to positively covary with nonverbal encoding accuracy but negatively covary with nonverbal decoding abilities.