The Mate-Seeking, Acceptance & Rejection Scale for Singles (MARS)

Research on involuntary singlehood has increased dramatically, but is limited by there being no instrument that comprehensively measures individual differences in key variables reflective of difficulties in forming romantic relationships. Since involuntary singlehood is primarily attributed to failure in mate attraction, and potentially low effort at seeking mates, we developed the Mate-Seeking, Acceptance, and Rejection Scale for Singles (MARS). Singles report on the acceptance and rejection they received over the past 30 days, along with the effort they spent at seeking mates. Items were generated by act nomination (Study 1) which underwent statistical dimension reduction (Study 2a, N = 468). Mate-Seeking and Acceptance comprised factors Engagement, Emotional, and Physical, while Rejection factors were Non-Engagement, In-Person-Avoidance, Remote-Avoidance, and Tactical. For construct validity (Study 2b), MARS converged with Sociosexuality, Extraversion, Neuroticism and Romantic Loneliness. Factors were replicated by confirmatory factor analysis (Study 3, N = 333). Since singles report on the specific acceptance and rejection behaviors they receive, MARS may more precisely and objectively assess attraction difficulties than instruments probing self-judged attractiveness. Reports of attraction failure can also be examined against extent of mating effort. Sub-factors may diagnose common types of mating struggles, such as seeking long-term relationships while only acquiring sex.