DOI: 10.52131/pjhss.2023.v11i4.1949 4711 eISSN: 2415-007X Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 11, Number 04, 2023, Pages 4711–4720 Journal Homepage: https://journals.internationalrasd.org/index.php/pjhss Development and Psychometric Properties for Scale of Marital Intimacy in Couples Sameera Shafiq 1 , Iram Naz 2 1 Department of Psychology, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan. Email: sameerashafiq@yahoo.com 2 Department of Psychology, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan. ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History: Received: October 15, 2023 Revised: December 27, 2023 Accepted: December 28, 2023 Available Online: December 29, 2023 The aims of the present study are the development and evaluation of the psychometric properties of Scale of Marital Intimacy (SMI) in married couples. The study methodology has used cross sectional research design and couples were selected with the purposive sampling technique. The development of the scale was based on deductive approach. Sixty items were selected after expert evaluation. In try-out phase, 50 couples were selected by purposive sampling technique. The items were found to be comprehendible by the couples and 54 items showed acceptable ≥ 0.30 item total correlation coefficient and 0.96 Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient. In pilot study, 150 couples were selected by purposive sampling technique and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted. A total of 52 items were retained after EFA. These items were administered on another sample of 125 couples selected by purposive sampling technique. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) yielded 16 items for SMI and five subscales. The results in try-out of 54 items showed item-total correlation coefficient from 0.303 to 0.812 in acceptable range. EFA on 54 items yielded acceptable Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity with factor loading ≥0.40 of 52 items. CFA showed model fit p<0.001 that established the structure validity and significant loading of the items in its subscales after eliminating 36 items. Final version of Scale of Marital Intimacy retained 16 items with acceptable Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient. Conclusively, SMI is a reliable indigenous scale for measuring levels of marital closeness in couples with five sub-scales in Pakistan. Keywords: Authenticity Couples Dyads Exclusiveness Marital Satisfaction Openness Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. © 2023 The Authors, Published by iRASD. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non- Commercial License Corresponding Author’s Email: sameerashafiq@yahoo.com 1. Introduction Marital intimacy refers to the sincere mutual sharing of physical, psychological, and spiritual needs between a husband and a wife (PsychCentral, 2024). It is for the sake of intimacy need gratification that the majority of the people get married (Schaefer & Olson, 1981). Intimacy is considered the sole predictive factor that is responsible for the good quality of the marital relationship in terms of satisfaction, equality, and stable functionality (Kamali, Allahyar, Ostovar, Alhabshi, & Griffiths, 2020; P. Greeff, 2001). Therefore, the maintenance of marital relationship between a husband and a wife is contingent on the level of marital intimacy experienced. Nevertheless, low intimacy in terms of verbal, affective, and physical involvement in marriage is predictive of divorce to occur between the spouses due to less satisfaction in marriage (Davila & Bradbury, 2001; Rubin, Peplau, & Hill, 1981; Tolstedt & Stokes, 1983). Weinberger, Hofstein, and Whitbourne (2008) found that women in college, who experienced less level of intimacy in their relationships, were more likely to face divorce in their midlife in the United States. On the other hand, Schneller, Arditti, and Arditti (2004) posited that men considered emotional distance and communication problems to be the key contributing factors to their divorce. Therefore, the core reasons for divorces are attributable to a lack of love and companionship, as the crude elements of intimacy among couples (Coontz, 2007).