Cultural Validation of the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale for the Portuguese Population: Exploring Its Relationship with Sociosexual Orientation

Ângela Leite () and Ângela Azevedo
Additional contact information
Ângela Leite: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, 4710-362 Braga, Portugal
Ângela Azevedo: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, 4710-362 Braga, Portugal

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 2, 1-24

Abstract: Objective: This study aims to adapt the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale for the Portuguese population and examine its association with sociosexual orientation, as measured by the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory, highlighting the relevance of this association as a public health issue. Methods: The Fear-of-Intimacy Scale was validated through confirmatory factor analyses. A multigroup analysis, employing confirmatory factor analysis, was conducted to evaluate the consistency of the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale across individuals in and out of romantic relationships. The reliability of the model was assessed using various indicators, including Cronbach’s alpha, McDonald’s omega, composite reliability, the average variance extracted (AVE), and the square root of the AVE. Results: The results indicated robust psychometric properties for the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale, with a well-fitting model identified. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance related to being in a romantic relationship or not were established; however, error variance invariance was not achieved. Although most dimensions of the two instruments displayed positive and significant relationships, the correlation values were generally modest. Conclusion: The findings underscore the importance of understanding the relationship between fear of intimacy and sociosexual orientation within the Portuguese context as a significant public health issue. Adapting the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale enables culturally sensitive research and supports clinical interventions aimed at improving relational and psychological well-being, thereby addressing broader public health challenges.

Keywords: fear of intimacy; sex assigned at birth; romantic relationship; sociosexual orientation; casual sex (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/274/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/274/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:274-:d:1590309

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().