Sons and daughters' perception of parents as a couple: Distinguishing characteristics of a measurement model

Abstract

Perceptions and memories that youths may have of their parents' marital relationship were addressed by a self-report questionnaire, composed by 26 Likert scale items which were taken to constitute the "Perception of Parents as a Couple" instrument. Answers from 1,612 male and female youths produced a matrix of non-negative correlations. The sample was randomly split into calibrating and validating subsamples of 806 people each. Exploratory factor and principal component analyses present a circular plot of loading s after the first and second extractions. In the latter, pairs of similar magnitude, but of opposing signs, not only convey theoretical meaning, but also entail an order - Guttman's circular law of order. A specification search, through a confirmatory factor analysis, performed under a measurement model presenting three pairs of opposing-signs and cross-loaded variables, generated a downward chi-square value for each indicated parameter respecification. Following that ordered list top-down, ten other items were specified to cross-load in the model. Once tested, running the validating subsample data, satisfactory fit indices were obtained. We propose the Möbius strip as a functional analogue to model this kind of circular ordering. Finally, we nominate two theoretical orientations for further research on the explanation of results - the generational psychic transmission reviewed in the introduction contrasted to the cognitive unconscious theory.