Examining Personal Relationship Thinking: The Relational Cognition Complexity Instrument

Abstract

A review of the literature demonstrates that `relationship thinking' is a central factor influencing the behavior of personal relationship participants. The present investigation examined the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to assess individual levels of relational cognition complexity, a structural quality of relationship thinking. Scores obtained via the Relational Cognition Complexity Instrument (RCCI) were found to have moderate 1-week test-retest reliability and high internal consistency. They were also found to have discriminant validity relative to measures of person cognition complexity and verbal intelligence. Male relationship partners were also found to score significantly lower on the RCCI than were female relationship partners.