Evaluation of psychometric properties of the Relational Ethics Scale (RES)

Relational ethics deals with fairness and unfairness in intimate relationships. It also deals with trustworthiness, justice, loyalty, merit, and entitlement between members of a relationship. Relational ethics requires members of the relationship to assume responsibility for consequences in the process of give and take. The Relational Ethics Scale (RES) consists of two types of  components: vertical and horizontal. The vertical dimension of the scale measures relational ethics in family of origin and the horizontal dimension measures current relationships between spouses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Relational Ethics in married men and women in Ahvaz. 208 married participants (89 males, 119 females) were asked to complete the Relational Ethics Scale (RES), the Relational Assessment Scale (RAS) and the Measure of Perceived Equity (MPE). Results confirmed the six-factor structure of the RES. They also showed that the RES has a suitable concurrent validity and reliability in measuring the couples’ relational ethics. Findings showed that this scale can be appropriately used in research studies as well as in premarital consultation and couple therapy by psychologists and family counselors.