The mate retention inventory (MRI) has been a valuable tool in the field of evolutionary psychology for the past 30 years. The goal of the current research is to subject the MRI to rigorous psychometric analysis using item response theory to answer three broad questions. Do the individual items of the MRI fit the scale well? Does the overall function of the MRI match what is predicted? Finally, do men and women respond similarly to the MRI? Using a graded response model, it was found that all but two of the items fit acceptable model patterns. Test information function analysis found that the scale acceptably captures individual differences for participants with a high degree of mate retention but the scale is lacking in capturing information from participants with a low degree of mate retention. Finally, discriminate item function analysis reveals that the MRI is better at assessing male than female participants, indicating that the scale may not be the best indicator of female behavior in a relationship. Overall, we conclude that the MRI is a good scale, especially for assessing male behavior, but it could be improved for assessing female behavior and individuals lower on overall mate retention behavior. It is suggested that this paper be used as a framework for how the newest psychometrics techniques can be applied in order to create more robust and valid measures in the field of evolutionary psychology.

过去 30 年来，配偶保留量表 (MRI) 一直是进化心理学领域的一个有价值的工具。当前研究的目标是使用项目反应理论对 MRI 进行严格的心理测量分析，以回答三个广泛的问题。MRI 的各个项目是否符合量表？MRI 的整体功能与预测相符吗？最后，男性和女性对 MRI 的反应是否相似？使用分级响应模型，发现除了两个项目外，所有项目都符合可接受的模型模式。测试信息函数分析发现，该量表可以接受地捕获具有高配偶保留程度的参与者的个体差异，但该量表缺乏捕获具有低配偶保留程度的参与者的信息。最后，区分项目功能分析表明，MRI 比女性参与者更适合评估男性参与者，这表明该量表可能不是关系中女性行为的最佳指标。总体而言，我们得出的结论是，MRI 是一个很好的量表，特别是对于评估男性行为而言，但在评估女性行为和总体配偶保留行为较低的个体方面还可以改进。建议将本文用作如何应用最新心理测量技术的框架，以便在进化心理学领域创建更稳健和有效的测量方法。