Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS)

The Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS) is a very brief but reliable and valid instrument designed to assess relationship satisfaction in married couples. It contains three items in which respondents rate their satisfaction with their spouse as a partner, with their marriage in general, and with their relationship with their spouse.

Length of completion

It takes approximately 1-2 minutes to complete.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

The questionnaire results in overall satisfaction with the current marriage.

Keywords

Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, KMSS, marriage, satisfaction, relationship

Scoring and interpretation

The total score is obtained by summing the scores for all three items. The final score ranges from 3 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater marital satisfaction.

Response Scale

Respondents answer each item on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (extremely dissatisfied) to 7 (extremely satisfied).

References

Omani-Samani, R., Maroufizadeh, S., Ghaheri, A., Amini, P., & Navid, B. (2018). Reliability and validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS) in infertile people. Middle East Fertility Society Journal, 23(2), 154-157. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mefs.2017.10.005

Schumm, W. R., Paff-Bergen, L. A., Hatch, R. C., Obiorah, F. C., Copeland, J. M., Meens, L. D., & Bugaighis, M. A. (1986). Concurrent and Discriminant Validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage and Family, 48(2), 381–387. https://doi.org/10.2307/352405

Schumm, W. R., Bollman, S. R., Jurich, A. P., & Hatch, R. C. (2001). Family Strengths and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale: A Factor Analytic Study. Psychological Reports, 88(3_suppl), 965–973. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.2001.88.3c.965

Schumm, W. R., Nichols, C. W., Schectman, K. L., & Grigsby, C. C. (1983). Characteristics of responses to the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale by a sample of 84 married mothers. Psychological Reports, 53(2), 567–572. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1983.53.2.567