Closeness of the Friend

What it measures

A three-item scale measuring how close, connected, and positively disposed a person feels toward a specific friend or individual companion. Items assess felt closeness, sense of connection, and general liking, providing a brief and direct measure of dyadic relational closeness in the context of joint decision-making and consumption. Items contain a blank to be filled with the target person's name or description.

Response format

7-point Likert

Scale items

• How close do you feel with _____?
• How connected do you feel with _____?
• How much do you like _____?

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

FILL-IN-THE-BLANK FORMAT: Blanks should be replaced with the name or description of the target person (e.g., 'your friend', 'your dining companion'). Two alpha estimates: α = .92 (preference condition) and α = .91 (no preference condition) — Liu & Min (2020, Study 6a; n = 309 undergraduates, behavioural lab). VALIDITY: Not discussed. Scale appears original to the authors. Developed for research on preference expression in joint consumption contexts; broadly applicable to any design examining dyadic interpersonal closeness as a moderator or dependent variable.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Liu, Peggy J. and Kate E. Min (2020). Where do you want to go for dinner? A preference expression asymmetry in joint consumption. Journal of Marketing Research, 57(6), 1037–1054.

Keywords