The Lovebird Scale: A New Measure of Relationship Quality in Long-Lasting, Flourishing Relationships

Abstract

People often use the term “lovebirds” to describe the ongoing loving behaviors between two romantic partners. What aspects of love distinguish “lovebird” relationships from other adult committed primary relationships? The present study aimed to answer this question through the development and validation of a novel self-report measure of relationship quality called the Lovebird Scale. Existing measures tend to use the presence or absence of relationship dysfunction as a barometer for relationship quality, but this may not adequately capture exceptionally high-quality, flourishing relationships. Romantic relationships have critical implications for health and well-being outcomes, emphasizing the need to understand the specific loving aspects of exceptionally high-quality relationships. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted across three studies using data collected from 1,007 English-speaking, U.S. adults who reported being in a romantic relationship lasting at least 6 months (M = 11.2 years). Results provide initial evidence for the psychometric properties of the Lovebird Scale. Critically, the Lovebird Scale outperformed well-established relationship quality measures when predicting affective state, highlighting the affective, behavioral, and cognitive nature of the scale. The scale advances the science of love by operationalizing the construct of “optimal” romantic relationships, going beyond broad ratings of relationship satisfaction to distinguish between “lovebirds” and other types of adult committed relationships.