Marriage Role Questionnaire

Abstract

The Marriage Role Questionnaire (MRQ), developed by Roland G. Tharp in 1963, is a specialized instrument designed to measure both marriage-role expectations and perceived role enactments among married individuals. Originating from a study focused on marital roles, the MRQ comprises 98 items utilizing various Likert-type scales. The questionnaire explores crucial dimensions of married life, including External Relations, Internal Instrumentality, Division of Responsibility, Sexuality, and Solidarity. Items were formulated based on prior academic research and input from expert sources. Historically, the MRQ was administered to couples in the United States who had been married for an average duration of 17 years. Furthermore, the instrument has been utilized in subsequent research, such as the work by Barton and Cattell (1972), which investigated the link between specific marriage dimensions and personality factors. It is important to note that the original documentation does not provide specific data regarding the scale’s reliability or validity.

Keywords

Marriage Role-Expectations, Marriage Role-Enactment, Socio-Emotional Integration, Social-Intellectual Equality, Sexual Fidelity, Division of Labor, Role Perception, Sex Roles, Intimacy, Marital Relations, Social Influence, Likert-type scales, Community Involvement, Social Integration, Masculine Dominance, Perceived Enactments.

Authors

Tharp, Roland G.

Purpose

The primary objective of the Marriage Role Questionnaire is to systematically assess the complex dynamics of role perception within marriage. Specifically, the instrument seeks to quantify the differences and similarities between an individual’s expectations regarding specific marital roles and their perception of how those roles are actually enacted by themselves and their partner.

This measurement allows researchers and clinicians to gain insight into potential areas of conflict or harmony related to the division of labor, emotional support, social interaction, and sexual aspects of the marital relationship. By distinguishing between the idealized expectation and the perceived reality, the MRQ provides a framework for understanding marital adjustment and satisfaction.

Construct

The MRQ measures two overarching psychological constructs: Marriage Role-Expectations and Marriage Role-Enactment. Role expectations refer to the beliefs and standards an individual holds about how a husband or wife should ideally behave across various domains of married life.

Marriage Role-Enactment, conversely, focuses on the perception of the actual behavior performed by the self or the partner relative to those expected roles. The scale operationalizes these constructs through multiple dimensions, encompassing aspects ranging from financial responsibility and social activities to levels of intimacy and sexual gratification, allowing for a multifaceted assessment of the marital structure.

Validity

The original documentation for the Marriage Role Questionnaire does not explicitly provide data regarding the scale’s psychometric validity (e.g., content, criterion, or construct validity). The items themselves were developed based on extensive prior research and vetted by expert judgment, suggesting initial efforts toward establishing content validity.

Despite the lack of formal reporting in the primary source, the subsequent use of the MRQ in studies linking marriage dimensions to established measures of personality (such as in the 1972 research by Barton & Cattell) implies that later researchers found the instrument sufficiently robust for correlational studies, indirectly supporting its utility in measuring relevant constructs.

Reliability

Similar to the validity information, the primary source documentation for the Marriage Role Questionnaire does not indicate specific data concerning its reliability. This means that measures such as internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha), test-retest reliability, or inter-rater reliability were not reported upon the scale’s initial publication.

In modern psychometric standards, the absence of reported reliability data is a significant limitation. Researchers intending to use the MRQ should consider conducting their own reliability assessments or referencing subsequent studies that may have reported these statistics when applying the scale to new populations.

Factor Analysis

The original description of the Marriage Role Questionnaire does not indicate that a formal factor analysis was conducted or reported by the author, Roland G. Tharp, upon its initial release in 1963. The scale’s dimensions appear to be theoretically derived rather than empirically established through statistical factor extraction.

However, the MRQ is structured around distinct scales and factors pertaining to expectations and enactments. A comprehensive empirical factor analysis would be necessary to confirm whether the 98 items reliably load onto the intended theoretical factors, such as Socio-Emotional Integration or Division of Influence, especially when applied across diverse populations.

Instrument

Test Type: Inventory/Questionnaire

Format: Items are rated using various Likert-type scales, allowing respondents to indicate the degree of agreement, frequency, or importance regarding specific marital behaviors and expectations.

Language Available: English (Original administration in the United States).

Population Group: Human; Male; Female.

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older); Specifically utilized in populations spanning Thirties (30–39 years) and Middle Age (40–64 years).

Population Details: Respondents were married couples located in the United States, typically with a long marriage duration (average of 17 years).

Test Methodology: The instrument is administered via paper format and consists of 98 items. Test items are currently not publicly available and must be accessed by contacting the original publisher or rights holder.

Keywords

Role Expectations, Role Perception, Marriage Role-Expectations, Marriage Role-Enactment, Social Dominance, Socioemotional Functioning, Division of Influence, Sexual Gratification, Social Influence, Wives, Husbands, Personality, Marital Adjustment, Reliability.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: University of Michigan (Affiliation at time of publication).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Marriage Role Questionnaire was initially developed and published in 1963. Specific details regarding current licensing permissions or usage fees are not provided in the source documentation. Researchers seeking to utilize the 98 test items must contact the original publisher or the institution associated with Roland G. Tharp at the time of publication.

Reference’s

• Tharp, R. G. (1963). Marriage Role Questionnaire. University of Michigan.
• Barton, K., & Cattell, R. B. (1972). Marriage dimensions and personality. (Referenced as a subsequent study utilizing the MRQ).

Items of the Marriage Role Questionnaire

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

The specific 98 items of the Marriage Role Questionnaire are not provided in the source material. However, the instrument assesses the following factors and subscales:

• Marriage Role-Expectations Scales [Factors]:
  • Socio-Emotional Integration
  • Social-Intellectual Equality
  • Pre-Marital Chastity
  • Sexual Fidelity
  • Social Influence
  • Sexual Gratification
  • Social Relations and Community Affairs
  • Togetherness and Role-Sharing
  • Wife Adequacy
  • Intimacy and Parental Adequacy
  • Desire for Masculine Dominance
• Marriage Role-Enactment Scales [Factors]:
  • Social Influence
  • Participation in Community Affairs
  • Social Activity
  • Social Integration
  • Division of Influence
  • Work Performance
  • Wife Adequacy
  • Masculine Dominance
  • Intimacy Understanding and Sexual Gratification