Sexual Relationship Power Scale (SRPS)
Scale Objective
To measure power within sexual relationships
Type(s) of Behavior or Outcomes Predicted
- Sexual and physical violence
- Intimate partner violence
- Condom use
- Partner infidelity
Types of Items Included
- Relationship control
- Decision-making dominance
Number of Items and Subscales
- 23 items
- 2 subscales
Relationship Control Factor/Subscale Items
- If I asked my partner to use a condom, he would get violent.
- If I asked my partner to use a condom, he would get angry.
- Most of the time, we do what my partner wants to do.
- My partner won't let me wear certain things.
- When my partner and I are together, I'm pretty quiet.
- My partner has more say than I do about important decisions that affect us.
- My partner tells me who I can spend time with.
- If I asked my partner to use a condom, he would think I'm having sex with other people.
- I feel trapped or stuck in our relationship.
- My partner does what he wants, even if I do not want him to.
- I am more committed to our relationship than my partner is.
- When my partner and I disagree, he gets his way most of the time.
- My partner gets more out of our relationship than I do.
- My partner always wants to know where I am.
- My partner might be having sex with someone else.
Decision-Making Dominance Subscale Items
- Who usually has more say about whose friends to go out with?
- Who usually has more say about whether you have sex?
- Who usually has more say about what you do together?
- Who usually has more say about how often you see one another?
- Who usually has more say about when you talk about serious things?
- In general, who do you think has more power in your relationship?
- Who usually has more say about whether you use condoms?
- Who usually has more say about what types of sexual acts you do?
Scoring Procedures
Each of the 23 items in the two subscales was scored on a 4-point Likert scale, with 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = disagree, and 4 = strongly disagree. High scores represent high sexual relationship power. Certain items were reverse-scored if high scores would reflect low sexual relationship power. Scores for the two subscales were calculated separately, then combined into the SRPS.
Psychometrics Used in Scale Construction
- Factor analysis
- Estimate of internal consistency (alpha) = .84
Type(s) of Statistics Used to Test Predictive Validity
- Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test for trend
- Logistic regression
Used with Women
Yes
Used with Men
Yes
Countries
- China
- Jamaica
- South Africa
- Thailand
- United States
- Zimbabwe
Additional Information
SRPS appears to be a useful measure for relationship power, including for youth and different ethnicities and cultures. It has demonstrated good predictive validity and internal consistency, though sometimes has appeared to be more relevant for women than for men. The relationship control subscale has been sometimes more internally consistent than the decision-making dominance subscale.
Downloads:
)Source(s):
- Pulerwitz, J, SL Gortmaker, and W DeJong. 2000. Measuring sexual relationship power in HIV/STD research. Sex Roles 42(7/8): 637–660.
