The measurement of the psychoaffectional orientation to dating

Abstract

A short affectional scale of 12 items was devised to measure the psychoaffectional aspects of dating. Items were prepared from a list submitted by 60 respondents and refined after administration to a further 259 subjects. Because of the lack of variance and of the homogeneity of responses, test-retest reliability measures were expressed in percentages. For 115 students, when going steady, the percentages ranged as high as 92 and 99 per cent. Test-retest reliability for affections which were experienced in subjects on the first date was 0.36, after several dates was 0.91 and when going steady was 0.99. Content, construction and criterion validity were examined using content, cluster and item analysis. The scale was found to be multidimensional and the amount of affection was found to increase with the depth of the dating relationship. A study of 29 dyads within a going steady relationship showed that 93% agreed perfectly in the level of affection they expected and expressed.