Authenticity in Relationships: Predicting Caregiving and Attachment in Adult Romantic Relationships

The primary purpose of this research was to examine associations between authenticity in relationships and romantic attachment and caregiving. Authenticity is approached as a relational phenomenon that is facilitated when individuals assume that truthful and open communication with one's partner will be reciprocally valued despite prospective risks. Items from the Authenticity in Relationship Scale (AIRS; Lopez & Rice, 2006) were translated to Portuguese, back-translated by a bilingual expert, and then reviewed by other researchers. Four hundred Portuguese participants (23-71 years old) in long-term intimate relationships completed the Portuguese version of the scale (AIRS-P) as well as the Romantic Attachment Questionnaire (Matos, Cabral, & Costa, 2008) and the Caregiving Questionnaire (Torres & Oliveira, 2010). A few items from the original AIRS loaded poorly in the Portuguese sample. However, confirmatory factor analysis of the AIRS-P established the presence of the 2 original underlying factors: unacceptability of deception and intimate risk taking. Structural equation modeling results indicated that authenticity in relationships is linked in expected ways to romantic attachment and caregiving to a partner. The correlates found in this Portuguese sample are similar to those found in previous research with American samples, suggesting cross-cultural consistency in the nature of authenticity.