A New Familism Scale for Use in Diverse Populations

Familism has evolved substantially over its history as a concept. It has been applied in both limited and broad ways, leading to conceptual confusion. To clarify the nature of familism, we evaluate its history, development, and conceptual underpinnings and propose a revised, cross-cultural understanding of familism. We present a new scale for measuring familism in diverse populations, with a particular emphasis on how such a scale can be used in social psychological research. We conclude by outlining potential next steps in the study of familism in previously neglected groups of familists.