The sense of entitlement in romantic relationships—Scale construction, factor structure, construct validity, and its associations with attachment orientations.

Abstract

Based on clinical evidence and theoretical writings that pointed to the importance and uniqueness of the sense of entitlement in couple relationships, two studies were designed to develop and validate the Sense of Relational Entitlement (SRE) scale. A factor analysis performed on the scale’s items yielded five factors that identified three basic entitlement-related attitudes toward a romantic partner. Findings indicated that both exaggerated and restricted forms of relational entitlement seem to be maladaptive and put people at risk for emotional problems. Findings also indicated that excessive and restricted forms of relational entitlement were significantly associated with attachment insecurities. In addition, the SRE scale was found to tap a unique psychological construct that moderately overlapped with constructs of narcissism and global entitlement. The discussion focuses on the developmental and psychodynamic sources of the sense of relational entitlement.