The aim of this study is to develop a measurement tool for the legitimation of marriage, which can be considered as an institution. In the study conducted to determine how legitimate and fair the institution of marriage is perceived and with what motivations marriage is legitimized, the Marriage System Legitimization Scale, İnönü Marriage Attitude Scale and Demographic Information Form were applied to the participants. A total of 326 university students, 249 females (76.4%) and 77 males (23.6%) aged between 17 and 59, participated in the study. Of the participants, 138 (42.3%) stated that they had a romantic relationship, and 188 (57.7) stated that they were not. The duration of relationship ranged from 1 to 360 months (Mean = 20.61; S = 40.20). The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that the scale exhibited a single factor structure and the results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that this single factor and this structure consisting of 21 items had acceptable values. The Cronbach alpha internal consistency reliability coefficient of the scale is .94. The factor loads of the items also vary between .60 and .79. The two-half test reliability coefficient of the scale was found to be .88, and the test-retest reliability coefficient was found to be .90. All findings revealed that the Marriage System Justification Scale is a valid and reliable instrument to be used in the literature.
Keywords: Marriage, system justification theory, marital system justification, scale development, validity, reliability