Zakharin, M., and Bates, T. C. (2023). “Relational models theory: Validation and replication for four fundamental relationships.” PLOS ONE, 18(6), e0287391.
Revisits the Modes of Relationships Questionnaire (MORQ) of Haslam and Fiske (1999), whose original 33 items fit the four-factor model poorly. The authors derive a 20-item version, five items per relational model, that fits well, and replicate it in independent samples of 617 and 615 participants. They state that “a given human relationship typically reflects combinations of two or more relational models.” They also identify a general factor, associated with relationship closeness, that loads positively on communal sharing, equality matching and market pricing and negatively on authority ranking.
The revised MORQ is the strongest available anchor for testing the convergent validity of any future TIME instrument. Two findings shape the design recommended in the TIME Profile brief. Combination of models within one relationship supports measuring TIME orientation as a mix; and the closeness factor warns that how close a person is to the other party can shift a whole profile at once.