Development of the Emotional Intimacy Scale in Romantic Relationships: A Validity and Reliability Study

Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology Vol.7 Issue.2

Doi:10.35365/ctjpp.25.2.05

RESEARCH ARTICLE / ARAŞTIRMA YAZISI

Development of the Emotional Intimacy Scale in Romantic Relationships: A Validity and Reliability Study

Romantik İlişkilerde Duygusal Yakınlık Ölçeği Geliştirilmesi: Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışması

Pınar Özdemir¹, Melike Sarıkoç²

Abstract:

This study aimed to develop and test an Emotional Intimacy Scale to measure the partners’ perception of the emotional intimacy level of romantic relationships and test the psychometric properties. The participants consisted of 640 individuals who participated in the study in 2023, from all regions of Turkey. First, literature review on emotional intimacy in relationships was conducted. Then, semi-structured interviews were made with six individuals who were in romantic relationships. In collaboration with eight experts and one academician, an item pool was created. After the items were shared with six experts in the field, they were assessed for content validity and finalized after they had been reviewed by them. The first step of the study was to perform an exploratory factor analysis of the data. The results of the exploratory factor analysis revealed a unidimensional structure consisting of 10 items with an eigenvalue of 5.377, explaining 53.774% of the total variance. Following the initial factor analysis phase, a confirmatory factor analysis was carried out and it was found that the fit indices met the required criteria. Following the analysis of the data, it was concluded that the Emotional Intimacy Scale is a valid and reliable tool for measuring emotional intimacy.

Keywords: Emotional intimacy, intimacy, romantic relationship, scale development.

¹Asst. Prof., Duzce University, Faculty of Education, Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Duzce, Türkiye, E-mail: [email protected], Orcid Id: 0000-0003-1324-3426

²Msc., Duzce University, Faculty of Education, Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Duzce, Türkiye, E-mail: [email protected], Orcid Id: 0009-0001-2888-3031

Address of Correpondence/Yazışma Adresi: Pınar Özdemir, Duzce University, Konuralp District, Yoruk Street, Merkez/Duzce 81620, Türkiye, E-mail:[email protected].

Date of Received/Geliş Tarihi: 30.04.2024, Date of Revision/Düzeltme Tarihi: 16.12.2024, Date of Acceptance/Kabul Tarihi: 11.04.2025, Date of Online Publication/Çevirimiçi Yayın Tarihi: 05.06.2025

Citing/Referans Gösterimi: Özdemir, P. & Sarıkoç, M. (2025). Development of the Emotional Intimacy Scale in Romantic Relationships: A Validity and Reliability Study. Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology, 7(2), 151-157.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Cyprus Mental Health Institute / Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry and Psychology (www.ktppdergisi.com). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/