Premium
Dependency and insecurity in romantic relationships: Development and validation of two companion scales
Author(s) -
ATTRIDGE MARK,
BERSCHEID ELLEN,
SPRECHER SUSAN
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.1998.tb00158.x
Subject(s) - dependency (uml) , romance , psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , computer security , psychoanalysis , computer science , artificial intelligence
This article presents self‐report scales for the assessment of perceived dependency and insecurity in a romantic relationship. These scales were originally developed many years ago (Fei & Berscheid, 1977) but were never published. The process of original scale development is summarized, and results from five studies (total N = 1,283; including data from the original Fei & Berscheid studies) are presented showing evidence for (a) scale reliability and validity; (b) the association between dependency and insecurity and the relationship conditions that moderate this association; (c) the association of dependency and insecurity with other theoretically relevant dimensions of close relationships; and (d) dyadic‐level issues of partner similarity and correlates of discrepancies in levels of dependency and insecurity. The results indicate that the two scales are reliable, valid, and associated with many other relationship constructs (e.g., commitment, love, closeness, and attachment).