Interpersonal Solidarity Scale
Interpersonal solidarity is a feeling of closeness between people that develops as a result of shared
sentiments, similarities, and intimate behaviors (Wheeless, 1976). Conceptually, people with strong
solidarity feelings should also trust, like, and self-disclose to one another.
The first version of the Interpersonal Solidarity Scale (ISS) consisted of 10 items, 9 of which
formed a unidimensional scale wirh high internal consistency (Wheeless, 1976). Closeness items
were added to improve the scale's content validity and the resulting 20-item Likert-type scale was
factor-analyzed (Wheeless, 1978). The scale appeared to be unidimensional and reliable.
Respondents use 7 -point Likert-type scales ranging from strongly agree tostrang!y disagree and take
less than 3 minutes to complete the 20 items. The scale has been adapted to measure group solidarity
(Wheeless, Wheeless, & Dickson-Markman, 1978) and teacher solidarity (Andriate, 1982; Sorensen,
198?).
RELIABILITY
Reliability information is sparse; however, the scale appears internally consistent. Wheeless reported
split-half reliabilities of .96 (Wheeless, 1978) and .94 (Wheeless, Wheeless, & Baus, 1984). And
Bell and Healey (1992) reported an alpha of .90 for a 19-item scale.
VALIDITY
There is sufficient evidence of concurrent and criterion-related validity. Wheeless (1978) predicted
and found a strong relationship between selfdisclosure, individualized trust, and interpersonal
solidarity. Solidarity was higher when people were evaluating close, rather than distant,
relationships. He suggested that trustworthiness and self-disclosure might be components of
interpersonal solidarity.
Downs (1988) and Eggert and Parks (1987) used the early edition of the scale and found predicted
relationships between solidarity and (a) selfdisclosure in grandparents and grandchildren and (b)
attraction to and expressed support from a dating partner's network. Solidarity also differed among
beginning, developed, and terminating stages of relationships in an inverted V-shape manner
(Wheeless et aI., 1984). Bell and Healey (1992) found solidarity correlated with idioms used by
friends.
COMMENTS
Interpersonal solidarity is becoming increasingly more important in interpersonal relationship
research, and this scale will help provide an index of
how close relationships are. Research using this instrument has been scant, but the results are
consistent that interpersonal solidarity as measured here is correlated with related constructs in the
expected direction. Future studies should provide additional evidence of internal consistency.
LOCATION
Wheeless, 1. R. 0978). A follow-up study of the relationships among trust, disclosure, and
interpersonal solidarity. Human Communication Research, 4,14-157.
REFERENCES
Andriate, G. S. (1982). Teacher communication and student learning: The effects of perceived
solidarity with instructor and student anxiety proneness. Communication Yearbook, 6, 792-810.
Bell, R. A., & Healey, J. G. 0992). Idiomatic communication and interpersonal solidarity in friends'
relational cultures. Human Communication Research, 18, 307-335.
Downs, V. C. 0988). Grandparents and grandchildren: The relationship between self-disclosure and
solidarity in an intergenerational relationship. Communication Research Reports, 5, 173-179.
Eggert, 1. 1., & Parks, M. R. 0987). Communication network involvement in adolescents'
friendships and romantic relationships. Communication Yearbook, 10, 283-322.
Sorensen, G. (1989). The relationships among teachers' self-disclosure statements, students'
perceptions, and affective learning. Communication Education, 38, 259-276.
Wheeless, 1. R. (1976). Self-disclosure and interpersonal solidarity: Measurement, validation, and
relationships. Human Communication Research, 3, 47-61.
Wheeless, 1. R., Wheeless, V. E., & Baus, R. (1984). Sexual communication satisfaction,
communication satisfaction, and solidarity in the developmental stages of intimate relationships.
Western Journal of Speech Communication, 48, 217230.
Wheeless,1. R., Wheeless, V. E., & Dickson-Markman, F. (1978). Research note: The relations
among social and task perceptions in small groups. Small Group Behavior, 13, 373-384.
Interpersonal Solidarity Scale*
Instructions: Please mark these scales to indicate how you relate to ____________________.
Please mark the following statements to indicate whether you: (7) strongly agree; (6) agree; (5)
moderately agree; (4) are undecided; (3) moderately disagree; (2) disagree; or (1) strongly disagree.
Record the number of your response in the space provided beside each statement.
_____ 1. We are very close to each other.
_____ 2. This person has a great deal of influence over my behavior.
_____ 3. I trust this person completely.
_____ 4. We feel very differently about most things.
_____ 5. I willingly disclose a great deal of positive and negative things about myself, honestly, and
fully (in depth) to this person.
_____ 6. We do not really understand each other.
_____ 7. This person willingly discloses a great deal of positive and negative things about
him/herself,
honestly and fully (in depth) to me.
_____ 8. I distrust this person.
_____ 9. I like this person much more than most people I know.
_____ 10. I seldom interact/communicate with this person.
_____ 11. I love this person.
_____ 12. I understand this person and who s/he really is.
_____ 13. I dislike this person.
_____ 14. I interact/communicate with this person much more than with most people I know.
_____ 15. We are not very close at all.
_____ 16. We share a lot in common.
_____ 17. We do a lot of helpful things for each other.
_____ 18. I have little in common with this person.
_____ 19. I feel very close to this person.
_____ 20. We share some private way(s) of communicating with each other.
Scoring: For items 4, 6, 8,10,13,15, and 18 reverse the scoring so that 7 becomes 1, 6 becomes 2,
etc. Then add up the total score.
*Copyrighr 1978 by Sage Publicarions, fnc. Reprinred by permission.