Kansas Marital Conflict Scale (KMCS)

Abstract

The Kansas Marital Conflict Scale (KMCS) is a widely utilized psychological scale developed at the University of Kansas in 1985. It functions as a self-report measure designed to quantitatively assess the quality, frequency, and intensity of couple interactions during disagreements over important issues. The KMCS consists of 18 core items structured into three distinct subscales that capture crucial dimensions of conflict behavior: Verbal Hostility, Physical Aggression, and Avoidance. Recognized for its strong psychometric properties, the KMCS is a valuable instrument for both researchers studying marital stability and clinicians seeking to identify dysfunctional communication patterns.

Keywords

Marital conflict, Couple communication, Verbal hostility, Physical aggression, Avoidance, Relationship quality, Marital assessment, Self-report measure, Gottman’s temporal form, Spousal interaction.

Authors

K. W. Eggeman, V. Moxley, W. R. Schumm

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Kansas Marital Conflict Scale (KMCS) is to offer a standardized, quantitative assessment of the specific behavioral and communicative strategies employed by spouses when managing and expressing conflict. Unlike simpler measures of relationship satisfaction, the KMCS delves into the dynamics of the conflict process itself.

The scale serves dual objectives in both clinical practice and academic research. Clinicians rely on the KMCS to pinpoint dysfunctional communication patterns, such as high levels of aggression or withdrawal, which necessitate therapeutic intervention. Researchers use the scale to investigate the correlation between specific styles of marital conflict and long-term marital stability, relationship satisfaction outcomes, and general psychological health of the partners.

Construct

The KMCS measures the overarching construct of Marital Conflict, focusing particularly on the temporal form and observable behavioral manifestations of conflict resolution attempts. This conceptual framework draws heavily on theoretical work related to John Gottman’s research on marital interaction and communication sequences.

The instrument operationalizes this construct through three core dimensions of conflict behavior, which are hypothesized to reflect different facets of relational distress. These sub-constructs include: Verbal Hostility, which assesses aggressive or disrespectful communication like insults and yelling; Physical Aggression, which measures the frequency of physical displays of anger, such as pushing or throwing objects; and Avoidance, which quantifies withdrawal behaviors, purposeful evasion of difficult topics, or emotional shutdown during disagreements.

Validity

The original psychometric investigations supporting the KMCS, detailed by Eggeman, Moxley, and Schumm (1985), indicate that the scale possesses strong psychometric properties. The KMCS has since gained wide acceptance in subsequent research literature as a valid measure for assessing complex conflict dynamics within relationships.

The scale’s items are specifically structured to capture spouses’ perceptions regarding the sequential, or temporal, flow of conflict resolution. This design provides evidence of construct validity by aligning the measurement outcomes with established theoretical models of marital interaction that emphasize the critical role of sequential communication patterns in determining successful conflict management versus escalation.

Reliability

The KMCS has consistently demonstrated high internal consistency across various studies, confirming its status as a reliable measure of core marital conflict and communication behaviors. The scale’s proven ability to consistently measure the underlying constructs across diverse samples highlights its utility in both longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs.

Given its nature as a self-report instrument, researchers must always account for potential response biases. However, overall reliability coefficients reported in the academic literature strongly support the use of the KMCS for accurately assessing the frequency and intensity of hostile, aggressive, and avoidant behaviors within the marital context.

Factor Analysis

The KMCS is empirically structured around three distinct factors or subscales, although the instrument can also be scored to yield a single, comprehensive overall marital conflict score. The primary factor analysis conducted during the scale’s development confirmed the empirical separation of the following dimensions:

• Verbal Hostility: Items specifically measuring aggressive, disrespectful communication, including insults and yelling.
• Physical Aggression: Items related to physical acts such as grabbing, pushing, or throwing objects during arguments.
• Avoidance: Items measuring behaviors related to withdrawal, ignoring the partner, or purposeful evasion of difficult and important topics.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report scale/Psychometric assessment

Format: 5-point Likert scale (1 = Never, 5 = Almost always)

Language Available: English (Primary)

Population Group: Married or cohabiting couples

Age Group: Adults (Typically 18+)

Population Details: The scale was originally validated on samples of married individuals and is suitable for general population research focused on relational dynamics and conflict styles.

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to rate the frequency of specific behaviors or communication outcomes that occur during disagreements over important issues. The KMCS is often administered individually to both spouses, allowing researchers or clinicians to compare perceptions of the conflict dynamic within the relationship.

Keywords

Relationship assessment, Communication patterns, Conflict resolution, University of Kansas, Spousal interaction, Gottman model, Psychometrics, Likert scale.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1985

Permissions/Fee: The Kansas Marital Conflict Scale is frequently employed in academic research settings and is generally available for non-commercial research purposes. Formal permissions should be sought directly from the original authors or the University of Kansas if the scale is intended for commercial use or large-scale implementation.

The instrument is archived and can be accessed within the Healthy Marriages Compendium. The original PDF describing the measure can be downloaded here: Healthy Marriages Compendium PDF.

Reference’s

• Eggeman, K. W., Moxley, V., & Schumm, W. R. (1985). Assessing spouses’ perceptions of Gottman’s temporal form in marital conflict. Psychology Reports, 57(1), 171-181. Retrieved from http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2466/pr0.1985.57.1.171
• Eggeman, K. W., Moxley, V., & Schumm, W. R. IN: Carrano, J.; Cleveland, K.; Bronte-Tinkew, J.; Moore, K. A. (2003). Conceptualizing and measuring “healthy marriages” for empirical research and evaluation studies: A compendium of measures – part II. Bethesda, MD. Child Trends. Page(s): 33, pg.143.
• Corcoran, K., & Fischer, J. (2000). Measures for clinical practice: A sourcebook (Vol.1). New York, NY: The Free Press.

Items of the Kansas Marital Conflict Scale (KMCS)

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

When you and your husband are beginning to discuss a disagreement over an important issue‚ how often:

1. Do you both begin to understand each other’s feelings reasonably quickly?
2. Do you both get your points across to each other without too much trouble?
3. Do you both begin to appreciate each other’s points of view on the matter fairly soon?
4. Does your husband seem to be supportive of your feelings about your disagreement?
5. Does your husband tell you that you shouldn’t feel the way you do about the issue?
6. Is your husband willing to really hear what you want to communicate?
7. Does your husband insist on contradicting many of your ideas on the issue before he even understands what your ideas are?
8. Does your husband make you feel that your views‚ even if different from his‚ are really important to him?
9. Does your husband seem more interested in justifying his own point of view rather than in understanding yours?
10. Does your husband let you feel upset or angry without putting you down for it?
11. Does your husband blame you for any of your feelings of frustration or irritation as if they were mostly your own fault‚ none of his?

After you and your husband have been discussing a disagreement over an important issue for a while‚ how often:

1. Are you able to clearly identify the specific things about which you disagree?
2. Are you able to identify clearly the specific things about which you do agree?
3. Are you both able to express how the other feels about the issue?
4. Are you both able to express the other’s viewpoint nearly as well as you could your own viewpoint?
5. Does your husband’s facial expression and tone of voice convey a sense of:
   • ____ discouragement
   • ____ anger
   • ____ disgust
   • ____ condescension
   • ____ resentment
   • ____ hostility
   • ____ frustration
   • ____ bitterness
   • ____ self-pity (for himself)
   • ____ cynicism
   • ____ respect toward you

About the time you and your husband feel you are close to a solution to your disagreement over an important issue‚ how often:

1. Are you able to completely resolve it with some sort of compromise that is OK with both of you?
2. Do you end up with very little resolved after all?
3. Do you quickly bring the matter to a conclusion that is satisfactory for both of you?
4. Do you realize that the matter will have to be reargued in the near future?
5. Do you find that just as soon as you think you have gotten things resolved‚ your husband comes up with a new idea for resolving the issue?
6. Does your husband keep on trying to propose things that are not mutually acceptable ways of resolving the matter at hand?
7. Does it seem that no matter what you suggest‚ your husband keeps on finding new‚ supposedly better solutions?
8. Are you both willing to give and take in order to settle the disagreement?
9. Are you and your husband able to give up some of what you wanted in order to bring an issue to a close?
10. Are you and your husband able to keep coming closer together on a mutually acceptable solution until you reach it?
11. Are you and your husband able to reach a mutually acceptable contract for resolving the disagreement?

1 = Never‚ 2 = Once in a while‚ 3 = Sometimes‚ 4 = Frequently‚ 5 = Almost always