Fear of Intimacy among Dating Couples

Fear of intimacy among heterosexual dating couples was examined with the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale (FIS) and the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR). Following a 6-month interval, couples were again contacted to determine whether they continued to date. Males reported higher FIS scores than females, and FIS scores were positively correlated within couples. Also, FIS scores of males and females were significantly correlated with indices of actual and desired intimacy; however, for females, correlations of FIS scores with desired intimacy were significantly lower than correlations with actual intimacy. Females who were no longer in the dating relationship at the 6-month follow-up had higher FIS scores than those who were continuing in their dating relationship. These findings increase our understanding of fear of intimacy, especially gender differences in dating couples.