We-ness Questionnaire: Development and Validation

Abstract

Perceptions of couple interdependence - partners’ mutual identity - are a key construct in relationship research and couple and family therapy. There is a need for a self-report measure that includes cognitive, emotional, and behavioral facets associated with perceptions of partner’s interdependence or we-ness, given its utility. The present study utilized data from 434 individuals to evaluate the psychometric properties of the We-ness Questionnaire, a multi-item self-report measure assessing perceptions of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral we-ness for individuals in a romantic relationship. Based on a sample of 434 individuals currently in a romantic relationship from the United States, the We-ness Questionnaire was found to have good reliability and showed appropriate convergent and discriminant validity. Implications for future research and couple and family therapy are discussed.

Keywords:

• Interdependence
• We-ness Questionnaire
• reliability
• validity
• romantic relationships

Acknowledgements

Ana Vedes is currently an independent researcher in private practice in Zurich. [email protected].

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose. This research was partially supported by a doctoral grant given to the third author, Ana Vedes, from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/63182/2009). The authors would like to thank Laura Jimenez-Arista and Kelsey Walsh for their help with recruitment and data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.