The measurement of affectionate communication

Affection is central to the communicative processes of personal relationships. While several empirical investigations have examined the communication of affection, there is little consistency from study to study in how affectionate communication is operationally defined, making it difficult to interpret the findings of such research and to compare findings across studies. The present paper reports the results of a multi-phase scale development procedure and two supplemental studies, involving a total of 781 participants, utilizing and validating a new self-report measure of affectionate communication. The resulting scale, the Affectionate Communication Index, is offered as a practical and psychometrically sound operational definition for the overt communication of affection in personal relationships.