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Original Article

Development and Validation of the Multicontextual Interpersonal Relations Scale (MIRS)

Published Online:September 18, 2018https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000497

Abstract

Abstract. Interpersonal relationships provide insight into a wide range of adult psychological health behaviors and well-being. Modern advancements in relational contexts (e.g., social media and phone use) have caused debate about the implications of technology use on overall interpersonal relationships and psychological health. Thus, the Multicontextual Interpersonal Relations Scale (MIRS) was developed to measure three unique processes of interpersonal relations and four unique contexts in which these activities take place. In total, N = 962 adult participants (aged 18–78 years) were recruited from the United States through Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online recruitment tool. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted to examine the hypothesized factor structure, and bivariate correlations were computed to assess concurrent validity. CFA results supported a model with three process and three context (specific) factors, where face-to-face relations served as the reference context factor. Bivariate correlations revealed that the interpersonal relations factors correlated with the related constructs in the hypothesized ways. Overall, strong standardized factor loadings, item-level reliability, concurrent validity, and internal consistency support the structure and use of the MIRS. Findings suggest that participation in interpersonal relations is a multicontextual construct, requiring measurement of all unique processes and relational contexts.

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