Rituals in Dating Relationships: The Development and Validation of a Measure

Abstract

Rituals have been widely studied in interpersonal communication research, but no instrument measures perceived ritual use in dating relationships. The purpose of this study, through surveying 590 individuals in dating relationships, was to create and validate the Rituals in Dating Relationships (RDR) measure. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling resulted in a 5-factor measure, reinforcing previous research (Bruess & Pearson, 1997): couple-time rituals, everyday talk, idiosyncratic rituals, daily routines and tasks, and intimacy expressions. Ritual use was positively related to both perceived relational quality and perceived relational intimacy, demonstrating the concurrent and predictive validity of the RDR measure. The usefulness of the instrument in extending scholarship about rituals in dating relationships is explored.