Development of the Relational Embeddedness Scale (RES): A Culturally Grounded Measure of Socio-Familial Embeddedness of Marriage in Collectivistic Contexts

In collectivistic cultures, marriage represents not merely a union between two individuals but a merging of two-family systems, with extended family relationships shaping marital quality and stability. The present study developed and validated the Relational Embeddedness Scale (RES), a measure assessing family embeddedness as experienced by married couples in collectivistic cultures. In a sample of 957 married individuals in India, exploratory factor analysis in a random split half (n = 455) revealed a unidimensional structure (eigenvalue = 15.25) accounting for 49.2% of variance, with the second factor explaining only 5.3% of variance, which was subsequently confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis in the holdout sample (n = 502; robust CFI = .920, RMSEA = .049). The final 31-item scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = .97) across genders, strong convergent validity with relationship satisfaction (r = .61, p < .001), and good discriminant validity from social desirability (r = .06, ns; attenuation-corrected r = .09). Hierarchical regression confirmed incremental validity, with the RES accounting for 36.0% additional variance in relationship satisfaction beyond social desirability (β = .60, p < .001). Men reported higher levels of family embeddedness (d = 0.17) and relationship satisfaction (d = 0.24) than women, although the RES-satisfaction association did not differ significantly by gender. The unidimensional structure likely reflects holistic cultural cognition in collectivistic contexts. The RES provides a reliable and valid instrument for assessing family-embedded marital processes and offers an avenue for research on how extended family systems contribute to couple functioning across cultures.