Marital Commitment
Title
Rusbult Commitment Scale
Study
PMBC
Copyright Information
A copy of the Rusbult Commitment Scale can be obtained from the author's website, http://www.carylrusbult.com/. The scale only may be used for personal research purposes. Any publication derived from data collected through the use of the Rusbult Commitment Scale, or direct republication of the scale itself is permissible only by written consent of John Wiley & Sons, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Primary Reference
1. Rusbult, C. E., Martz, J. M., & Agnew, C. R. (1998). The Investment Model Scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size.
Personal Relationships, 5, 357-391.
Purpose
To measure participants’ commitment level within their existing marital relationships, defined as intent to persist in the relationship, including long-term orientation toward the involvement as well as feelings of psychological attachment. This scale is a subscale of Rusbult’s Investment Model Scale1.
Description
Participants indicate their level of agreement on a 9-point Likert scale (0=do not agree at all; 4=agree somewhat; 8=agree completely) with items measuring commitment level
Number of Items
7
Sample Items
- I want our relationship to last a very long time
- It is likely that I will date someone other than my partner within the next year (reversed)
Psychometrics
In three studies of college students1:
Reliability: alpha=0.91-0.95
Validity: In a group of college students, responses to this commitment scale at Time 1 predicted breakup status at Time 2 (two to five months later); R2 =0.23
In PMBC:
Reliability: alpha=0.90
Scoring
Reversed Items: 4
Total Commitment Level: Sum Items 1, 2, 3, 4R, 5, 6, 7
Variables
Rusbult Total Commitment Score