Romantic Relationships on a Daily Scale

Abstract: The nature of romantic relationships is dynamic, with partners encountering different situations daily. To capture these experiences, we developed state scales for multiple daily assessments of affective (e.g., relationship anxiety), cognitive (e.g., relationship self-efficacy), and behavioral constructs (e.g., relationship behaviors) relevant to romantic relationships. The scale development process involved a pilot study and a main study, both including baseline trait assessments and an experience sampling phase with five questionnaires/day for 10 days. We adapted existing trait scales following recommendations for state item development. The scales were improved based on the results of multilevel confirmatory factor analyses (MCFA) from a pilot study ( N = 95, N obs = 2,807–3,414). In the main study ( N = 258, N obs = 5,700–9,486), we evaluated the final state scales. MCFA results demonstrated good within-person reliabilities (ω within = .72–.94) for each scale. Scale validities were confirmed by correlations with corresponding trait measures and assessments reported by the participants’ partners. Within-person intercorrelations and MCFA analyses including second-order factors further supported the scales’ validity. As a result, we present 14 reliable and valid state scales measuring relevant constructs in romantic relationships. We discuss problems with discriminant validity.