Description

The Romantic Partner Conflict Scale [RPCS-43] is a self-report instrument designed to assess conflict within romantic relationships. It examines the frequency and intensity of disagreements, common conflict topics, conflict-management strategies, emotional reactions, and the consequences of conflict for the relationship.

Purpose

The main purpose of the RPCS-43 is to evaluate how romantic partners experience and manage conflict. It can help researchers explore patterns of disagreement and understand how conflict relates to communication, relationship functioning, and relationship satisfaction.

Applications

The scale may be used in research examining:

  • communication between romantic partners,
  • relationship satisfaction,
  • conflict-resolution strategies,
  • emotional responses to disagreements,
  • the effects of conflict on relationship quality.

Scoring

The RPCS-43 consists of 43 items addressing different aspects of romantic conflict. Data analysis may include descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and examination of associations between conflict dimensions and other relationship-related variables.

Bibliography

Zacchilli, T. L. (2007). The Relationship Between Conflict and Communication, Sex, Relationship Satisfaction, and Other Relational Variables in Dating Relationships. Texas Tech University.

Zacchilli, T. D. L., Hendrick, C., & Hendrick, S. S. (2005). The development of the Romantic Partner Conflict Scale. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Nashville, TN.