Psychometric properties of the personal assessment of intimacy in relationships (PAIR) inventory among North- Borneo Malaysian couples

• Main Authors: Tan Yi Jing, Kok Ann Gie, Serene Peh Shee Sien, Dewi Nur Izzati Binti Mohamed Noriman, Tharshana Rajasegaran, Yassika Davee A/P Steven Cartdosa, Chua Bee Seok
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: Southeast Asia Psychology Journal 2023
• Subjects: BF1-990 Psychology; BF176-176.5 Psychological tests and testing
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38740/1/ABSTRACT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38740/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38740/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sabah

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR) Inventory among Malaysian couples. The research specifically focused on evaluating the inventory's reliability, validity, and conducting an item analysis. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 549 respondents. These respondents were either married, engaged, or in committed relationships, living together. The duration of most relationships ranged from one to ten years, and participants were located across Malaysia. The survey was administered through Google Forms and disseminated via WhatsApp using the snowballing method. The study utilized the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR) Inventory, which comprises 36 items divided into six subscales. These subscales measure emotional, social, sexual, intellectual, recreational intimacy, and conventionality. Item analysis revealed issues with some items, especially within the Social Intimacy scale. As for reliability, the entire PAIR instrument displayed good consistency with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.77. Nevertheless, there were variations in the reliability of subscales. Emotional Intimacy achieved an alpha value of 0.74, and Intellectual Intimacy reached 0.71, meeting the reliability criterion. However, some other subscales did not meet the threshold. Furthermore, problematic items were identified through item analysis. In terms of validity, both convergent and concurrent validity were assessed. All PAIR subscales demonstrated positive and significant intercorrelations, with the exception of the Social Intimacy scale. Concurrent validity was evident through positive associations between PAIR subscales and well-being measures. Once again, the only exception was the Social Intimacy scale. In conclusion, this study offers valuable insights into the psychometric properties of the PAIR Inventory among Malaysian couples. It highlights the need for improvements, especially within the Social Intimacy scale.