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The Development of a Short Form Compassionate Love for a Partner Scale

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Abstract

Compassionate love centres on expanding beneficence to another. This research reports the development and preliminary validation of a shortened tool of compassionate love for a partner, based on the Compassionate Love Scale (CLS). Three studies were carried out in Portugal. Study 1 explored the underlying factor structure of the CLS. Based on this study, a short form of the measure was proposed (CLS-P-SF). In the two other studies the underlying structure of the CLS-P-SF using confirmatory factor techniques and its psychometric properties were examined. Good construct validity for this unidimensional measure was obtained via confirmatory factor analyses. Overall, results revealed that the CLS-P-SF has adequate levels of reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and incremental validity. We obtained a short, reliable, and valid instrument to assess compassionate love for a romantic partner.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center in Business Sciences and Tourism of Consuelo Vieira da Costa Foundation (CICET-FCVC), Porto, Portugal

    Joana Neto

  2. Faculdade de Psicologia E de Ciências da Educação, Universidade Do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal

    Félix Neto

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  1. Joana Neto
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Correspondence to Félix Neto.

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Appendix

Appendix

Items of the Compassionate Love for a Partner Scale Short Form (CLS-P-SF)

Items of the CLS-P-SF in English

Translation of the items of the CLS-P-SF in Portuguese

Please answer the following questions honestly and

quickly using the scale below:

Por favor, responda às seguintes questões de modo

honesto e rápido utilizando s seguinte

escala:

Item 1: “I spend a lot of time concerned about the well-being of _____.” (2)

Item 1: “Passo muito tempo preocupado/a com o bem-estar do/a _____. “(2)

Item 2: “When I hear about _____ going thought a difficult time I feel a great deal of compassion for him or her.” (3)

Item 2: “Quando sei que o/a_____ está a passar por tempos difíceis sinto uma grande compaixão por ele/ela.” (3)

Item 3: “If_____ needs help, I would do almost anything I could to help him or her.” (5)

Item 3: “Se o/a_____ precisa de ajuda, eu faria quase tudo que

pudesse para o/a ajudar.” (5)

Item 4: “I often have tender feelings toward _____ when he or she seems to be in need.” (12)

Item 4:” Frequentemente tenho sentimentos de ternura

pelo/a_____ quando ele/a aparenta estar necessitado.” (12)

Item 5: “I want to spend time with _____ so that I can find

ways to help enrich his/her life.” (20)

Item 5: “Quero passar tempo com o/a_____ de modo

a descobrir formas de ajudar o/a a enriquecer a sua vida.” (20)

  1. In brackets the item number of the original scale

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Neto, J., Neto, F. The Development of a Short Form Compassionate Love for a Partner Scale. Sexuality & Culture 26, 1360–1379 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-09947-9

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