Refining the measurement of involvement in applications of relational framing theory

Abstract

ABSTRACT Relational framing theory (RFT) explains how individuals process relational messages during interaction through two content-laden dimensions—dominance-submission and affiliation-disaffiliation—and a content-free intensifier: involvement. RFT research has generally utilized measures of relevance more conducive to the content-laden variables than to the content-free variable. This study advanced a new involvement scale that operates as a measure of degree rather than relevance. Participants (N = 319) provided perceptions of involvement in a hypothetical conversation. Results were consistent with reliable and valid measurement and a unidimensional factor structure. Future research can adopt the degree-based involvement scale to assess the extent to which a communicator is engrossed in interaction.