Relationships Fostering Healthy Masculinities Scale

Abstract

The Relationships Fostering Healthy Masculinities (RFHM) Scale, developed by Di Bianca & Mahalik (2025), is a specialized psychological instrument designed to evaluate the quality of interpersonal relationships in fostering positive and adaptive masculine behaviors among adult men. This 24-item measure is theoretically grounded in Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT), particularly the concept of growth-fostering relationships, and incorporates feminist critiques of traditional masculine socialization.

The scale development involved extensive item generation, consultation with mentors, and refinement through a pilot study, resulting in an initial pool of 50 items. Subsequent administration to adult men in the U.S. across two studies utilized Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), which ultimately validated a robust 6-factor structure comprising 24 items. The authors provided comprehensive data supporting the scale’s reliability, validity, and measurement invariance across racial groups.

Keywords

Healthy Masculinities, Interpersonal Relationships, Relational-Cultural Theory, Rejecting Shame, Fostering Vulnerability, Rejecting Hyper-Independence, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Measurement Invariance, Criterion Validity, Internal Consistency.

Authors

Di Bianca, Michael, Mahalik, James R.

Purpose

The fundamental purpose of the RFHM Scale is to quantitatively assess the degree to which a man’s significant interpersonal relationships contribute to or inhibit the development and expression of healthy, non-restrictive masculinities. It focuses specifically on relational experiences that either endorse growth and connection or reinforce rigid, traditional masculine norms.

By measuring these relational experiences, the scale serves as a valuable tool for researchers and clinicians interested in understanding the social context of men’s mental health, relationship quality, and adherence to or rejection of harmful masculine socialization patterns, such as those promoting emotional control or violence.

Construct

The RFHM Scale measures the overarching construct of Relationships Fostering Healthy Masculinities (RFHM), conceptualized as a higher-order factor derived from six distinct, yet related, relational experiences. The foundation for this construct is the relational-cultural framework, emphasizing that personal growth occurs through mutual, authentic relationships.

The six first-order factors captured by the instrument represent specific relational dynamics that either support or undermine psychological health for men: Rejecting Shame, Fostering Vulnerability, Rejecting Hyper-Independence, Fostering Connection, Rejecting Violence, and Fostering Compassion. Collectively, these factors define a relational environment conducive to a flexible and adaptive form of masculinity.

Validity

Criterion validity for the RFHM Scale was established through significant correlations with several theoretically relevant external constructs. Specifically, high RFHM scores were associated with positive outcomes, including greater individual well-being and enhanced relationship quality.

Furthermore, the scale demonstrated discriminant validity by showing a strong inverse relationship with adherence to restrictive masculine norms, particularly those involving emotional control, rigid self-reliance, and the endorsement of violence. These findings confirm that the scale effectively measures experiences that promote adaptive psychological functioning and challenge restrictive masculine socialization.

Reliability

The reliability of the RFHM Scale was assessed using measures of internal consistency across its six factors. Both Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega were calculated, demonstrating strong internal reliability across the subscales.

The internal consistency coefficients ranged from .81 for the Fostering Compassion subscale to .84 for both the Fostering Vulnerability and Rejecting Violence subscales. These coefficients indicate that the items within each factor are highly intercorrelated and reliably measure the intended underlying construct.

Factor Analysis

The final structure of the RFHM Scale was determined using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), following an initial reduction of the item pool (from 50 to 35 items) to minimize redundancy. The final model retained 24 items loading onto six distinct factors.

The 24-item, 6-factor measurement model exhibited excellent fit to the empirical data, evidenced by favorable fit indices (RMSEA = .048, 90% CI [.039, .056]; χ² = 390.59, df = 232; CFI = .96; TLI = .95; SRMR = .044). All individual item loadings and first-order factor loadings were statistically significant (p < .001). Crucially, the six first-order factors—Rejecting Shame, Promote Vulnerability, Reject Hyper-Independence, Promote Connection, Reject Violence, and Promoting Compassion—were found to load coherently onto a single, higher-order factor representing the overall RFHM construct. The study also established configural, metric, and scalar measurement invariance across samples of men of color and White men, supporting its applicability across diverse racial groups.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: The measure utilizes a 6-point response scale.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Male

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years & older), Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), Middle Age (40-64 years), Aged (65 years & older)

Population Details:

• Age Range: 18-84

• Location: United States

• Respondents: Men

Test Methodology: Test Validity, Criterion Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Measurement Invariance

Keywords

Fostering Compassion, Fostering Connection, Fostering Vulnerability, Healthy Masculinities, Interpersonal Relationships, Rejecting Hyper-Independence, Rejecting Shame, Rejecting Violence, Male Attitudes, Shame, Violence, Social Connectedness.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9463-2698 (James R. Mahalik)

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected], [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Di Bianca, Michael: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Health, 25 Carleton Street, E23, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, 02412, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: May use for Research/Teaching

Fee: No

Test Year: 2025

Reference’s

Di Bianca, M., & Mahalik, J. R. (2025). Development of the Relationships Fostering Healthy Masculinities Scale. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 26(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000488

Items of the Relationships Fostering Healthy Masculinities Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Instructions: The following statements describe how the important people in your life might relate to you. Please rate how true each statement is for you using the scale below.

Stem: The important people in my life …

1. Would see me as weak for having any feeling other than anger*

2. Would see me as weak if I needed some self-care*

3. Would think less of me if I cried*

4. Want me to act strong even if it means hiding my real feelings*

5. Accept me for who I really am when I’m struggling

6. Make me feel safe enough to cry in front of them

7. Let me know that who I am is good enough

8. Want to know how I feel when I’m going through hard times

9. Expect me to always go it alone*

10. Teach me that “real men” should never need help*

11. Would judge me as needy if I wanted more closeness with them*

12. See closeness as something real men shouldn’t want*

13. Encourage me to grow closer with others

14. Like when we show each other affection

15. Teach me to lean on the important people in my life

16. Are okay with me asking them for support

17. Make me think I should be aggressive to be seen as a real man*

18. Expect me to be dominating as a guy*

19. See the measure of a man as how much power he has over others*

20. Respect me more if I prove my strength through aggression*

21. Teach me to be a good man

22. Teach me to treat all people with dignity in how I speak and act

23. Set an example for me to have compassion for others

24. Teach me to respect women and girls

Response Scale:
1 = absolutely not true
2 = untrue
3 = kind of untrue
4 = kind of true
5 = true
6 = absolutely true

Subscales:
Shame: Items 1-4.
Vulnerability: Items 5-8.
Hyper-Independence: Items 9-12.
Connection: Items 13-16.
Violence: Items 17-20.
Compassion: Items 21-24.

*Indicates reverse-scored item for the total score.