Multidimensionality of Conjugal Decision Making Indices: Comparative Analyses of Five Samples

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Abstract
Rapid expansion of research dealing with outcome of conjugal decision making has heightened the need for evaluation of indices employed. The purpose of this article is to provide an empirical test of the general hypothesis that additive indices of conjugal decision making yield a unidimensional measure. Analyses of data from five previous studies reveal little inter-item relationship within samples or within subsamples of husbands and wives, and factor analysis of correlation matrices yields widely disparate solutions with from two to four dimensions within each sample and subsample. Beyond evidence of inconsistent and complex factor structures, there remains considerable unexplained variation in the respective solutions even when three or four factors are extracted.; While coefficients of individual item reproducibility are reportedly high for scales of this type, the advisability of summing individual item weights to form a composite mean score for analysis and interpretation is not warranted. Each analysis provides a multidimensional conclusion.; The goal of replication, characteristic of extensions of the Blood and Wolfe approach, is compromised by questionable theoretical and methodological assumptions. Implications of these findings are discussed.

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