Establishing the psychometric properties of the Self and Perceived-partner Authenticity in Relationships Scale-Short Form (AIRS-SF): Measurement invariance, reliability, and incremental validity

• Measurement invariance of the Self- and Perceived-partner versions of the AIRS was evaluated.
• The AIRS-SF (short-form) showed excellent reliability and validity across independent samples.
• Perceived-partner AIRS-SF predicted interpersonal trust, controlling for avoidant attachment.

This article evaluates the psychometric properties of Self and Perceived-partner versions of the Authenticity in Relationships Scale (AIRS; Lopez & Rice, 2006). Two samples were collected. Sample 1 (N = 487) was comprised of romantically involved adults residing in the United States, recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk, who completed Self and Perceived-partner versions of the AIRS, along with a number of other self-report measures. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to establish measurement invariance across Self and Perceived-partner versions of the scale and eliminate non-essential items. The revised 12-item short-form (AIRS-SF) exhibited excellent reliability in the validation sample, as well as a holdout sample of romantically involved college students (N = 112). Multi-group path analysis provided additional evidence for the incremental validity of the AIRS-SF. Consistent with prior experimental work, the Perceived-partner AIRS-SF predicts relationship satisfaction and commitment through interpersonal trust, independent of attachment avoidance.