THE DYNAMICS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS: EVALUATING THE VALIDITY AND PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF RELATIONSHIP FLOURISHING SCALE ACROSS DIVERSE POPULATIONS

Abstract

Noura AlHammadi*, Intan HM Hashim, Shahla Ostovar and Zaireeni Azmi

The effort to conduct relationship-flourishing studies in certain populations is hindered by a lack of psychometrically sound assessment measures. Scales need to be validated across wider populations. This study examined the psychometric properties of an Arabic-translated version of the widely used Relationship Flourishing Scale (RFS). The RFS is a measure flourishing instrument that aims to assess four critical dimensions of flourishing: meaning, relational giving, goal sharing, and personal growth. This study was a cross-sectional study using a non-probabilistic sample of the married population. Participants were included if they identified as United Arab Emirates (UAE) and were at least 18 years old. Participants completed the Arabic relationship flourishing scale (RFS). The final sample comprised 708 participants. The average age was 31.77 years (SD= 9.79), ranging from 18 to 69, and 32% of the participants were men. The study investigated the content validity of the RFS by using content validity indexing. Ten expert panels translated and back-translated the RFS and rated the degree of relevance of every item based on the five-point scale provided in the content validation form. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the Arabic version of the relationship flourishing scale had a fourdimensional factors structure. The a =.87, composite reliability .88, and average variance extracted .53 showed excellent values. CFA was conducted to test four-dimensional structures of FS, showing excellent goodness of fit (X2/df = 2.11, p ¡.000, CFI = .93, TLI =.92, RMSEA =.08, and 90% RMSEA CI. It contributes to a wider research approach within relationship research.